TBILISI, July 5 – The opposition party Freedom Square has taken its summer campaign to Zugdidi, launching a 10-day tour of Georgia’s western Samegrelo region at a time when much of the country’s political class is slowing down for the season.
Party leader Levan Tsutskiridze said the group would meet supporters, citizens and “friends” across all municipalities in the region before wrapping up the tour with a forum on Georgia’s political situation and the country’s future.
The Zugdidi stop is one small but telling scene in Georgia’s summer political pause. While public activity is dropping, parties are not standing still. Some are touring the regions, some are reorganizing, some are forming new groups, and others are looking ahead to possible protest activity in the autumn.
Tsutskiridze’s Zugdidi push comes as Georgian politics enters its usual summer slowdown. Rezonansi wrote on Sunday that political activity is now dropping to a minimum, while parties are preparing for autumn. The paper described the opposition as split by internal disputes and crises, while new political parties are being formed. It described the ruling Georgian Dream camp as relatively stable domestically, while relations with the West continue to worsen.
One major opposition question is the future of the United National Movement, Georgia’s former ruling party and still one of the country’s main opposition forces. Rezonansi reported that a UNM congress is expected in July, where a new chairperson and political council will be elected. Current chair Tina Bokuchava’s term officially expires on July 8, but the exact date of the congress and the candidates for chair had not yet been officially named.
The paper also reported continued tension inside the opposition alliance, with uncertainty over whether UNM will remain in it or leave. At the same time, new parties are entering the field. A week earlier, the party “For Georgia First” was founded by Viktor Kipiani, a former lawyer for Bidzina Ivanishvili. Another opposition party has been announced for the fall.
Analyst Zaal Anjaparidze told Rezonansi that Kipiani’s party may try to appeal to moderate voters tired of radical politics, and could even attract some Georgian Dream supporters. He also said opposition forces often promise renewed activity in autumn, but past promises have not produced much.
Another analyst, Vakhtang Dzabiradze, was also skeptical that fall protests would bring major results. He told Rezonansi that no opposition force is currently setting the political agenda, and that the opposition has not offered society anything new beyond concern over Georgia’s foreign orientation.
But the governing Georgian Dream party faces no major domestic challenge at the moment, but while it has formed new partnerships with China and Uzbekistan, the government has been subject to frosty relations with most European countries, while trying to reset relations with the United States, so far with no visible results.
