Ruling party MP says UNM being “only” opposition party expected to overcome election threshold “regrettable”

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Friday said it was “very regrettable” that only the United National Movement - the largest opposition faction in the Parliament - was expected to overcome the five percent election threshold in next year’s parliamentary elections. 

The lawmaker’s comment came following surveys run this month by the Tbilisi-based Georgian Opinion Research Business International and the United States-based International Republican Institute that said only the alliance of UNM and Strategy Aghmashenebeli parties could gain seats in the legislative body through the extent of their voter support. 

Mdinaradze claimed the “failure” of other opposition groups had been caused by their “malicious campaign” and by their “repeating” of UNM’s “fake messages”, naming the example of them allegedly portraying the Georgian Dream Government as “pro-Russian”. 

There is no difference between UNM and other opposition parties in the country - that is why voters prefer to choose UNM [between them]”, he claimed. 

The GORBI survey put GD's approval rating at 55 percent and UNM support at 20 percent, while IRI polls said 25 percent supported GD and 13 percent backed UNM. 

Domestic opposition groups have called for the election threshold to be lowered to two percent, with GD ruling out the possibility for the forthcoming elections.