TBILISI, DFWatch – The leader of the largest opposition coalition says there will be set a new precedent in Georgia’s recent history, when the government is changed through election. Bidzina Ivanishvili appeared confident in front media after meeting […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Dream coalition which is challenging President Saakashvili’s power in Monday’s parliamentary election, mobilized over a hundred thousand supporters in the center of Tbilisi Saturday. The coalition also held a rally in the country’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The leader of the government’s main competitor in the election in just over a week says that he has plans to solve the conflicts of Georgia’s breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili says first, rail and road […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The two largest political blocs in Georgia in the weekend showed off their support in the regions. United National Movement, the ruling party, Saturday held eleven rallies in ten towns as well as in Tbilisi. The first gathering started at 11:00 in […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition in Georgia considers to make the former AC Milan player Kakhi Kaladze speaker of parliament if they win the election on October 1. Georgian Dream has nominated the footballer on first place on its party list, which might mean that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The leader of the Georgian Dream coalition says he can’t wait until he leaves politics. Georgia’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, on Friday was invited on Maestro TV in the morning, where he stated that he has never been interested in […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Opposition businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is challenging Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia’s October 1 parliamentary election, has announced himself as candidate for prime minister. The announcement comes one day after Saakashvili’s National […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Dream coalition Thursday opened a tent in the Samtskhe Javakheti region, because the locals refused to let them rent an office. The coalition has had problems with rent offices before. It blames the government, saying it does not […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Georgian Dream coalition continues to name its majoritarian. This time the candidates for the High Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. The nominees are mathematician Amiran Mamuladze in Khulo, doctor […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition party Georgian Dream continues to run into trouble about the location for its rallies around the country. This time a rally is planned for Rustavi, a town 20 km south of the capital, but city hall turned down the application to use […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Georgian Dream coalition Sunday continued showing off its support with a massive rally in Batumi, a port on the Black Sea coast. About 20 000 people gathered in front of the stage. ‘Let Saakashvili see how many of us are here’, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Police in Georgia has arrested one member of the opposition Georgian Dream coalition after he hit a female employee of the local government in Gurjaani, a town in eastern Georgia which was hit by a storm. Information Center Kakheti reports that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Bidzina Ivanishvili Thursday announced the names of all ten majoritarian candidates for Tbilisi and several candidates in the regions. This time his opposition Georgian Dream coalition brings forth many popular names. Some of the candidates […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Batumi City Council has replaced the director of the local dolphinarium after security guards entered the facility Monday. The dolphinarium in Batumi was reopened on the initiative of the local government after 20 years of non-functioning. This […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The main opposition bloc in Georgia mobilized 15 000 people Sunday in Gori, the town closest to the capital which was occupied by Russia in the 2008 war. Georgian Dream front man Bidzina Ivanishvili promised to normalize relations with Russia […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A street fight broke out Thursday during an opposition meeting in a Georgian village. The scuffle involved both journalists and others being beaten. The opposition Georgian Dream coalition was visiting Karaleti, a village close to the breakaway […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Saakashvili’s main competitor Bidzina Ivanishvili has announced 15 majoritarian candidates that will stand in single mandate districts around in the different regions of Georgia. During rallies in May, the Georgian Dream coalition announced 19 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Two of the four who were imprisoned following a street fight at one of opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili’s campaign rallies have been released. The scuffle took place on June 26 in Mereti, a village near a Russian-Ossetian check point. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian opposition figure head Bidzina Ivanishvili continued his tour of the country’s regions Sunday by staging a rally in the old capital Mtskheta, 20 km north of Tbilisi. The rally started at 19:00 and saw the billionaire making new […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Georgian Dream movement Sunday held its third rally, this time in a small town in western Georgia. About 20 000 people gathered in Ozurgeti, a town in the Guria region. Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili in his speech said […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian opposition financier Ivanishvili’s Channel 9 has launched an Internet news service, with scores of reporters around the country’s regions. As less than four months are left until a decisive parliamentary election, the main opposition bloc […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian opposition billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili refuses to pay a USD 90 million fine he was issued for illegal party funding. This could lead to seizure and forced sale of his property. The 149 million lari fine corresponds to 2.1 percent […]
KUTAISI, DFWatch – The main opposition bloc in Georgia Sunday mobilized supporters again, this time in the second largest city Kutaisi. The goal of Georgian Dream’s rally was to gather supporters from different villages and cities in the region Imereti. Supporters […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The main opposition movement in Georgia plans to hold another large rally on Sunday, this time in the country’s second largest city Kutaisi. Georgian Dream, which is a coalition set up by Saakashvili’s main competitor, billionaire Bidzina […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A new strongly pro-government organization says the main opposition bloc in Georgia may be disqualified in the upcoming parliament elections, because of what it says is bribery of voters. The organization, called Clean Politics, which was set up two […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili has gone on the barricades against the Public Broadcaster, saying that it should change their editorial policy. “Lies won’t have such a way out anymore as it has today. They won’t be able to sell […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition coalition Georgian Dream will start naming their candidates for majoritarian members of parliament from June 1. Leader Bidzina Ivanishvili said Monday that most of the candidates have already been selected, but there are several […]
The opposition movement Georgian Dream mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in Tbilisi Sunday. Crowds marched from three different locations in order to converge on Freedom Square. There, a stage had been assembled, from which the movement’s leader, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – City authorities in Tbilisi have decided to not allow the opposition Georgian Dream movement to erect a stage on the freedom square to be used during a mass rally. The opposition movement led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has been running […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Saakashvili’s main political opponent Bidzina Ivanishvili will sell all his property in Russia by the end of May. The billionaire said this after it became public that his shares in companies in Russia were already sold. According to Forbes magazine, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – For the first time in more than five years, spring in the Georgian capital will not be marked by crowds demanding the resignation of President Saakashvili. At least the largest opposition party won’t be demanding that he steps down. Georgian Dream doesn’t […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The main opposition bloc in Georgia says if it wins October’s election, it will get back the breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia through negotiations, with Germany as mediator. Irakli Alasania, an ex-diplomat and opposition politician who […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Saturday, the opposition party everybody expects to challenge Mikheil Saakashvili in October’s parliamentary election gathered for a founding congress in Tbilisi. Its unofficial leader, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, promised to revive agriculture […]
TBLISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s main opposition party today chose a female lawyer as its temporary leader. As there is less than six months left until the parliamentary elections, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili today formally established his Georgian Dream party. Due to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A Georgian billionaire who is considered the main competitor of the government yesterday met EU officials and discussed the election campaign in the country. The press office of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s political coalition Georgian Dream reports the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A billionaire newcomer politician in the former Soviet republic of Georgia criticizes a radical opposition leader for mismanagement involving a violent clash last spring. The movement People’s Assembly mobilized all across the country in 2011, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition billionaire in the former Soviet republic of Georgia Tuesday had meetings with representatives for the movement behind a protest wave which ended in a fatal clash with police in May 2011. Bidzina Ivanishvili met with People’s Assembly, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch - The businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili is to form an election bloc and aims at running in next year’s parliamentary election in Georgia. His allies are Irakli Alasania, leader of the Free Democrats, and Davit Usupashvili, leader of the Republican party, Ivanishvili’s press office told Dfwatch. Several polls indicate that if the bloc survives until [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Over a thousand people enjoyed a sunny Tbilisi today outside the old Philharmonic, where a new opposition movement is being launched at 3 pm by the businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili. Interpressnews reports that many well-known faces have been spotted in the masses of people registering to be let into the hall. Among them are [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgians are discussing how to read the first polls done after a popular businessman decided to join politics. The polls differ drastically, which has lead many to distrust the results. According to one of them, 26.1% of the Georgian population want the newcomer Bidzina Ivanishvili as Prime Minister from 2013. 24.2% of the [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgians might elect political newcomer Bidzina Ivanishvili if given the option, but the first polls after he launched his campaign differ significantly. Two polls disagree over newcomer Bidzina Ivanishvili's chances in the presidential competition. One shows him second, another shows he will trounce the ruling party's most likely candidate 32 to 13 per [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Answering questions on his Facebook page late this week, businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili said he will 'fundamentally reform' the entire justice system, in order to establish independent courts. Ivanishvili was asked mostly about social conditions, unemployment, health and economy, but also said the courts and entire judicial system will be 'fundamentally reformed'. The businessman’s [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili’s press office Monday announced that the Public Registry has finally registered the movement ‘Georgian Dream.’ An hour earlier, they announced that the Civil Registry had refused to register Georgian Dream. “An hour after releasing the [first] press statement the Civil Registry registered the public movement 'Georgian dream'. This information [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - When asked on Facebook ‘Who would you vote for, Bidzina Ivanishvili or Mikheil Saakashvili?’, 24 000 out of nearly 32 000 Georgians answered they would support Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, while only 7 500 voted for the current president. This is a large number and ‘it shows a clear tendency’, according to a specialist [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - On several fronts the simmering power struggle in the southern Caucasus nation saw new developments Thursday. The fallout from challenger Bidzina Ivanishvili's first ever press conference is continuing, after he spoke on live TV in an unusually freespirited manner for Georgian viewers. One of the shocking statements on November 1 was his account [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian challenger Bidzina Ivanishvili is extending a hand to the whole spectrum of opposition parties, promising to cooperate with all of them in order to remove the ruling party from power. At the November 1 press conference he was asked whether he is going to cooperate with all parties. “We will cooperate with [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's honorary consul in the United States says the reason he was dismissed last week was that he refused to take down photos from his Facebook page showing the popular opposition politician Bidzina Ivanishvili meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Georgia. Just four months ago, Lasha Darbaidze was the subject of [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - A scuffle developed outside an important Tbilisi landmark before the weekend, as officials tried to stop Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili’s renovation work on the building. The castle of King Rostom, who reigned parts of present day Georgia in the late 16th century, has been under renovation for the last few years, but work [...]
How Will Saakashvili Chart His Path Into the History Books? The last couple weeks have probably not been fun ones for Georgia’s government, or, more aptly, the political machinery that has long ensured its lock on power. Until now, with comfortably high poll ratings from 2008 to the present, President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement didn’t [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia's richest is carefully laying the groundwork for his entering politics and wresting the Caucasus nation out of the grip of president Mikheil Saakashvili. One crucial piece in his plan is to put together a pool of advisors around him in order to bounce ideas around and gauge the atmosphere among the population. [...]
In Georgia, a businessman who one week ago set out to unseat president Mikheil Saakashvili is quickly gathering supporters while the small Caucasus nation is eagerly awaiting his TV appearance. One of the country's most well-known literary figures, Chabua Amirejibi, as well as a well-known fotballer, have thrown their support behind the financier. Since releaseing his declaration [...]
