TBILISI, June 16 – Former Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili has called for a new “united front” against the ruling Georgian Dream party, but the idea was met with irritation and skepticism from parts of the opposition.
Zourabichvili wrote on Facebook on June 14 that trust in the “regime” was being lost even among its most loyal circles, and that people were beginning to think about their own survival.
She said time was running out and argued that instead of waiting for what she described as the impossible unification of political parties, a broader national front should be formed.
The appeal comes as Georgia’s opposition remains split over how to confront Georgian Dream, which has dominated the country’s politics for more than a decade. After leaving office as president in December 2024, Zourabichvili became the most internationally recognizable leader of the resistance against Georgia’s ruling party, but disunity among opposition ranks have marred her attempts to unite the movement which has been organizing daily rallies for one and a half years.
One dividing line has been whether to maintain a boycott of the parliament that was elected in 2024, or to take up their seats awarded by a contested election result. While the majority are still refusing to participate, one opposition party, Gakharia For Georgia, broke ranks and entered the assembly in October last year.
The party leader, Giorgi Gakharia, is still in exile while under criminal prosecution for alleged violations in connection with establishing a checkpoint near South Ossetia during his tenure as prime minister.
Ana Buchukuri, one of the leaders of Gakharia for Georgia, said she was tired of hearing repeated talk about opposition unity.
She said she did not know exactly what Zourabichvili had in mind and added that citizens were probably even more tired of such appeals than politicians were. Buchukuri said her team had no plans to merge with anyone.
She also said Zourabichvili had made similar calls before, but that they usually ended in silence.
The initiative was also received critically among hardliners who are maintaining the boycott. Giorgi Butikashvili, a representative of the Coalition for Change, said Zourabichvili has more weight abroad than any party and should strengthen the alliance’s work on the foreign front.
He said Zourabichvili had played an important role when the opposition alliance was created, especially in presenting its role outside Georgia. Butikashvili added that if she had a concrete proposal, opposition groups should not be learning about it through television.
Political analyst Nika Chitadze told Rezonansi that he did not expect Zourabichvili to succeed in building a new opposition format because parts of the opposition no longer trust her.
He said opposition groups had previously allowed Zourabichvili to take a leadership role, including during protests, but that this had not produced effective results. Chitadze suggested that Zourabichvili may want to initiate a new opposition union with herself as leader, but said he did not think she could pull it off.
