Salome Zourabichvili. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Giorgi Gakharia’s party For Georgia is reportedly considering nominating former President Salome Zourabichvili as a “neutral candidate” for mayor of Tbilisi in the upcoming local elections.

The party, which received 8% of the vote in the 2024 parliamentary election, has announced the start of its campaign for the municipal elections in October and has begun selecting mayoral candidates described as politically unaffiliated. Party leaders say they hope to unite the opposition around such figures to broaden voter appeal. However, analysts remain skeptical, citing the party’s low polling numbers and the deep fragmentation of the opposition.

While no specific names have been confirmed, local commentators note that Zourabichvili’s name has surfaced. Some suggest the party is seeking to position itself above Georgia’s polarized political landscape by nominating figures perceived as independent.

French-born Salome Zourabichvili served as Georgia’s first foreign minister after the 2003 Rose Revolution, but later moved into opposition during most of the Saakashvili era. Cultivating an independent political path, she kept a low profile until being nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party as a non-partisan candidate for president in 2018, and won. Her presidency later saw sharp tensions with GD and its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. In late 2024, she briefly refused to leave office amid opposition protests, challenging the election result. Since then, she has emerged as a symbolic leader of the opposition, appearing at rallies and meeting with Donald Trump at the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris.

Commentators doubt she would accept a mayoral bid, citing her presidential stature and broader ambitions. Others argue the strategy reflects Gakharia’s continued search for relevance after splitting from Georgian Dream.

Opposition parties remain divided over whether to participate in the elections. Zourabichvili is among those who are against participating in the local elections scheduled for October, citing the presence of 60 or more political prisoners as conditions in which it is ‘incomprehensible’ to hold elections. Her accepting a potential bid for Tbilisi mayor is therefore unlikely.