United National Movement opposition members call for change in party leadership
Several members of the United National Movement on Wednesday called for the replacement of the party’s current head Nika Melia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Several members of the United National Movement - the largest opposition group in Georgia - on Wednesday voiced their desire for changes in party leadership, including replacement of the party’s current head Nika Melia.
Irakli Nadiradze, a UNM representative in Tbilisi city assembly, told a briefing further strengthening the party required empowerment of “intra-party democracy and intra-party elections at all levels”.
He was joined in the call by party MP David Kirkitadze, who said the calls “serve the goal to make the UNM even stronger”.
However, Akaki Minashvilli, a fellow member of UNM, expressed his disapproval of the MPs’ way of voicing the initiative and called the briefing “unexpected”. "It is very sad and regrettable that such a briefing was held so unexpectedly and now”, he said in response.
In a recent interview with Formula TV last month, Melia, who took over as the chairman in 2020, strongly dismissed rumours he could quit, following reports that he and several UNM activists had clashed in the party office in Tbilisi in September over questions related to Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned ex-president of Georgia and former head of the party.
Several opposition politicians have openly accused Melia of “doing nothing” for the release of Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi last October on his return to the country, after spending eight years on positions in the Ukrainian government.
The leader of the United National Movement opposition party (UNM) Nika Melia was refused bail earlier today. The Judge of Tbilisi City Court Nino Chakhnashvili dismissed Melia from the courtroom because Melia called her ‘a slave’ (of the current government). The opposition parties which have been demanding Melia’s release for about two months have stated earlier today that the government ‘is not willing to ease the current political tension’ and that Melia ‘remains a political prisoner.’
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Nika Melia, the head of the United National Movement opposition party on Wednesday said he was ready to re-run for the post “anytime” and slammed several of his party members for a “hasty” briefing earlier during the day that called for a leadership challenge.
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The United National Movement opposition party, the largest opposition group in Georgia, is “sunk in internal power struggle” instead of working for the interests of the country or the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, Lelo opposition MP Salome Samadashvili told Interpressnews on Tuesday.
Bacho Dolidze, a member of the United National Movement - the largest opposition party in Georgia - on Tuesday said the former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili could be behind the recent release of illegal audio recording involving the party’s incumbent Chair Nika Melia.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday said the ongoing struggle for the chairmanship of the opposition United National Movement party had “crossed all ethical and moral limits”, and noted the intra-party feud would “further weaken” it.