Page 9 - GEORptMay21

held positions and was leaving the party.
European Georgia was founded in Tbilisi in January 2017, primarily by prominent former members of UNM.
2.4 Six MPs quit ruling Georgian Dream party to join ex-PM’s new outfit
Six Georgian Dream MPs have quit the ruling party to join a new political party emerging under Giorgi Gakharia, who served as prime minister until February when he resigned amid tensions over the detention of the country's opposition leader.
The lawmakers are Giorgi Khojevanishvili, Ana Buchukuri, Aleksandre Motserelia, Beka Liluashvili, Shalva Kereselidze and Mikheil Daushvili.
The parliamentary majority of Georgian Dream, which also lost Gakharia after he ended his two and a half year stint as prime minister, now stands at 84.
Apart from a handful of non-Georgian Dream MPs, opposition lawmakers continue to boycott the parliament over claims that last autumn's general election was rigged. However, with the latest developments, a more "moderate" opposition grouping is forming, making the main opposition block more "extreme". That might prove an important detail in the foreign-mediated negotiations for the normalisation of political life in Georgia.
The new party announced by former PM Gakharia has said it “will not join the radical opposition”.
"We have nothing to do with the radicals, we will talk about the rest [of the situation] in the future," said Liluashvili in an interview given to ipn.ge. Liluashvili implied that the new party would welcome more Georgian Dream MPs.
“We are in the process of creating a political party! This process is ongoing and if our former teammates believe that they no longer share the same values of the ruling political platform, part of which is no longer in the interests of the Georgian people, they can join our political team," said Liluashvili.
Khojevanishvili underscored that the new party takes responsibility for the past “achievements and failures” of Georgian Dream - a nod to former PM Gakharia’s role in the putting down of the June 20, 2019 mass protest against the ruling party.
In regard to those events, Khojevanishvili said “there were mistakes which we acknowledge and share.”
As for the snap election demanded by the opposition parties refusing to enter parliament, Khojevanishvili said the new party would support any initiative that can defuse the radicalisation; however, he also called on the media “to wait for developments.”
9 GEORGIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com