TBILISI, DFWatch--While Ukraine is heroically fighting the aggressor and the Georgian people are strongly supporting it in this cause, a diplomatic row has broken out between Tbilisi and Kiev, causing embarrassment and shame for many Georgians. People gathered in the center of Tbilisi on Tuesday to show support for Ukraine and condemn the steps taken by the [...]
Former party secretary Irakli Kobakhidze was "unanimously" elected as new leader of Georgian Dream. TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s ruling party on Saturday elected former party secretary Irakli Kobakhidze as new chairman, after its billionaire founder stepped down. The choice of a new leader and new composition of the political council at the party convention are important developments for [...]
GD Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze. TBILISI, DFWatch--After talks between Georgian Dream and the opposition failed to defuse the political crisis, the ruling party in Georgia has started to weigh in with threats of revoking registration for the largest opposition party and stripping others of state funding. On Thursday, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Dream executive secretary, said [...]
Opposition leaders at the signing of agreement at Labor Party office in Tbilisi. (1tv.ge) A day before the general election, ten opposition parties signed an agreement not to form a coalition government with the Georgian Dream, a political party presided by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili which rules the country since 2012. The parties state that current government [...]
Confrontation between opposition and pro-government activists in Mtkheta. (1tv.ge) The Georgia Dream has employed a new tactic to check anti-government protests throughout Georgia, which includes unleashing violent gangs of their supporters to confront activists verbally and physically, opposition claims. This invokes a parallel with Euromaidan when the government of pro-Russian leader Victor Yanukovych unleashed [...]
(1tv.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Thousands of people rallied onTbilisi's Rustaveli Ave on Thursday, after parliament failed to adopt a bill to use a proportional system during the 2020 general elections. The switch to proportional system, a long-standing demand by almost the entire opposition spectrum, was a promise by the ruling Georgian Dream party in the wake of “Gavrilov [...]
Damon Wilson is an American foreign policy advisor and the current executive vice president at the Atlantic Council of the United States, a foreign and public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. To assess the past local elections in Georgia, , Voice of America’s (VOA) Nana Sajaia interviewed Washington-based Damon Wilson, Executive Vice-President of US Atlantic Council. […]
Tbilisi, DFWatch – Amid growing concern over imminent constitutional majority in the hands of Georgian Dream, Prime Minister airs his initiative to set up a group, which will work on amending constitution. […]
Tbilisi, DFWatch - A member of Georgian parliament, notorious for his radical anti-NATO, antigay statements, Thursday withdrew his candidacy in a majoritarian district and expressed support to Georgian Dream and its founder, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Nine days before the election Tamaz Mechiauri, MP and a leader of a party 'Tamaz Mechiauri – United Georgia", [...]
Giga Bokeria, Secretary of the Security Council (IPN) TBILISI, DFWatch–The National Movement will not prosecute Bidzina Ivanishvili and his supporters , Giga Bokeria, the party’s foreign affairs secretary said at a briefing on Wednesday. Bokeria predicts ‘inevitable’ loss by the Georgian Dream, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch–The ruling Georgian Dream announces its party list for Oct. 2, 2016 parliamentary elections, featuring mostly ‘new faces’ on its top and leaving many of its prominent members behind. The list is headed by Giorgi Kvirikashvili, current PM […]
Tbilisi, DFWatch – The National Democratic Institute released the results of the latest survey which details Georgians’ political affiliations before the upcoming parliamentary elections in October 2016. […]
The boycott declared by the UNM was preceded by a squabble during the plenary session. Tbilisi, DFWatch – United National Movement has announced its decision to suspend its activities in the parliament until all involved in violent incident in Kortskheli were punished. […]
Logo of Election Administration of Georgia. TBILISI, DFWatch–The Central Electoral Commission (CESKO) announced the preliminary results of the by-elections to Sakrebulos (‘municipal assemblies’), which were held on 22 May in nine majoritarian electoral districts. […]
Usupashvili: We can’t speak seriously about a partnership with the United National Movement (2030) TBILISI, DFWatch–Speaker of Parliament Davit Usupashvili flatly denied allegations that the Republican Party of Georgia, commonly known as the Republicans, was considering a partnership with the United National Movement (UNM) before the parliamentary […]
Vice PM sees no tragedy if the coalition falls apart (IPN) TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia, a key political party within the Georgian Dream coalition, may opt for running independently in the upcoming parliamentary elections, Kakha Kaladze, Minister of Energy stated Saturday, thus adding fuel to the fire in the widespread […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Chamber of Control keeps using its newly granted authority and fines a Georgian billionaire turned politician’s bank 822 040 lari (about 498 000 US dollars) for avoiding the law during financial transactions. In a statement, the Chamber […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili Tuesday took his movement one step further to becoming a full-fledged party, but stopped short of assuming leadership. Ivanishvili’s citizenship was revoked by President Mikheil Saakashvili at the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili today presented the members of the initiative group for his new political party called Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia. Among the members of the group are famous public figures, lawyers, a journalist, also […]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgia’s party finance watchdog claims it obtained information about the financial activities of the Georgian Dream movement from the National Bank. The body released a report Tuesday which showed how much money opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili has spent on advertisement in various newspapers and TV not affiliated with the government. As DFWatch has [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A political movement in Georgia must follow rules for party financing, because it wants to impact the election. The new head of Georgia’s campaign finance watchdog, Natia Mogeladze (pictured), says she ordered Ivanishvili's movement to report on its finances because they made statements indicating political intentions. “The motivation was their own [...]
