No white smoke over Tbilisi’s Orbeliani Palace as presidentially mediated talks to unite two opposition forces – Lelo-led Strong Georgia alliance and ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party – for October elections failed.
“An agreement could not be reached at this time,” the ex-PM’s party said in a Facebook post on September 19, three days after President Salome Zurabishvili called for a union between two major opposition forces. “Unfortunately, the other party seems to have failed to reach an internal consensus.”
Members of the Strong Georgia coalition, which unites four different political forces, denied that they were at fault. Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of the Lelo for Georgia party, the largest force in the coalition, said Strong Georgia was ready to sign the agreement and was waiting for the president’s invitation to finalize it. Suggesting that he learned of the deal’s failure from For Georgia‘s statement, Khazaradze lamented that “a momentum is being lost.”
The alliance was purported to break the cycle of polarization by challenging the dominance of the ruling Georgian Dream party on the one hand and opposition forces associated with the rule of the United National Movement on the other. Some pundits argued that such an alliance could have convinced many hesitant voters to turn out for the October polls.
The President called for an election alliance between the two on September 16, expecting the leaders of both parties for lunch on the next day to finalize the deal. But the talks took longer than expected as the sides took time to make up their mind and consult with their party colleagues, especially in the case of Strong Georgia, uniting Lelo for Georgia, Citizens led by Aleko Elisashvili, For People led by Anna Dolidze, and Freedom Square, a new platform of professionals and academics from civil society.
According to various reports, the points of disagreement included the reluctance of some Strong Georgia coalition partners to associate with a former prime minister because of his controversial past, as well as difficulties in agreeing on the “parity” of potential allies on the joint party list.
Khazaradze and Gakharia have had a turbulent relationship in recent years. In 2019, when Gakharia held the post of interior minister and Mamuka Khazaradze had yet to enter politics, Khazaradze claimed that Gakharia threatened to ruin the businessman’s reputation if he didn’t support the government. Since then, the two have traded criticism and attacks but have managed to form coalitions in local self-government bodies in some opposition-dominated municipalities after the 2021 local elections.
In the Facebook post announcing the failure of the talks, Gakharia’s For Georgia still expressed hope for cooperation in the next parliamentary convocation.
Note: This post was updated at 5:45 p.m. to reflect the positions of the Strong Georgia representatives and possible reasons for the failure.
Also Read: