The country’s opposition parties are repeating strategic mistakes that have allowed the ruling Georgian Dream party to entrench its rule, according to Nino Lomjaria, executive director of the non-governmental group Georgia’s European Orbit and former public defender (ombudswoman).
Outlining her criticism in a social media post on Saturday, Lomjaria said opposition groups have failed to unite on key national issues or develop a coherent strategy for confronting what she described as a regime skilled at exploiting division. She argued that the opposition’s fragmentation during the 2024 parliamentary elections and its split tactics in the 2025 local elections directly helped Georgian Dream retain power.
“In 2024, the opposition should have united into two major blocs, not four or five alternatives,” Lomjaria wrote. “Ignoring this clear public demand meant the fragmented opposition could not defend votes effectively, and when the elections were falsified, the public’s anger turned against the opposition itself.”
She added that during last year’s municipal elections, the government succeeded in its goal of dividing the opposition into those who participated and those who boycotted the process. “That strategy worked because the opposition could not agree on a single approach,” she said.
Lomjaria argued that the opposition’s disunity has also weakened Western support. “The West’s backing of the Georgian people is unconditional, but they don’t know whom or what process to support because there is no unified demand, strategy, or team representing the country’s pro-European voice,” she wrote.
Looking ahead, she called on opposition groups to begin preparing now for the next parliamentary election, regardless of when it is called. Preparation, she said, should include forming a single electoral list based on the “idea of resistance,” explaining policy benefits clearly to the public, and training reliable election observers.
She also urged activists to continue peaceful protest and defend the rights of those she called “illegally detained or repressed.” The key, she concluded, is to replace cynicism with action and organize society around a unified democratic vision.
