Leader of Georgia's main opposition party stripped of his seat in parliament

TBILISI, DFWatch–The largest opposition party’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor has lost his seat in the Georgian parliament. Nika Melia, leader of the largest opposition party United National Movement (UNM), asked for the revocation himself in July, after the ruling party abandoned the EU mediated compromise agreement negotiated by European Council President Charles Michel. However, Melia … Read more

A PM who recently resigned is Georgia's most popular politician

TBILISI, DFWatch–A recently retired prime minister is one of Georgia’s most popular politicians, according to a new survey published by the International Republican Institute (IRI) on Monday. Giorgi Gakharia, who resigned in February citing disagreement with his party colleagues over the detention of UNM leader Nika Melia, is liked by 65% ​​of respondents, far more … Read more

EU-mediated talks fail to resolve Georgia's political crisis

TBILISI, DFWatch–EU-mediated negotiations to end the political crisis in Georgia have once more ended in failure.  The compromise proposed by EU envoy Christian Danielsson was rejected Tuesday evening by both the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) and the group of opposition parties led by United National Movement (UNM). Currently, the fate of the negotiations is unclear. … Read more

Georgian ex-PM Gakharia keeps people guessing after cryptic message that he hasn't left politics

TBILISI, DFWatch–Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on Monday that he has not left politics, without further explanation, leaving people guessing as to what he might have meant. “I am not leaving anything, not even politics,” Giorgi Gakharia wrote on his Facebook page on Monday. But when asked by reporters, he did not explain … Read more

Georgian PM rejects opposition's two main demands

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s prime minister on Tuesday rejected the two main demands put forth by the opposition, thus prolonging the country’s four and a half months long political crisis. “The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2024,” Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a meeting of the EU-Georgia Association Council in Brussels. Based on what … Read more

Negotiations are the only way out of Georgia’s political crisis

EDITORIAL When parliament nominated hardliner candidate Irakli Gharibashvili as prime minister, he dedicated his speech not to defeating the pandemic, not to the economy, occupation or social problems, but to fighting political opposition.  After Melia’s arrest, the newly appointed PM thanked the police for their “successful operation”. Similar statements were made by senior state officials. … Read more

Political crisis deepens in Georgia following violent police raid and arrest of opposition leader

TBILISI, DFWatch–A police raid of the headquarters of Georgia’s largest opposition party and the arrest of its leader Tuesday morning has further deepened the political crisis in the country. Nika Melia, leader of the United National Movement, was dragged out of the party building by riot police following a violent raid where they also used … Read more