On November 26, Sopo Japaridze, the leader of the Tbilisi organization of the opposition coalition Unity-National Movement, told journalists that the Unity-UNM Coalition had appealed to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to revoke the coalition’s party list with an official letter signed by the coalition’s leader, Tina Bokuchava.
Japaridze further explained that the decision was taken because the Coalition “does not recognize the results of the elections” and that if CEC head Giorgi Kalandarishvili – “the participant in the Russian special operation” – approves the letter after the three-day period stipulated by law, the Coalition will then take the next steps to ensure that “this Parliament will never have legitimacy.”
According to the law, a party can formally ask the CEC to revoke its list after Parliament recognizes the credentials of MPs at its first session. The first session of Parliament was held on November 25, and it recognized the credentials of all 150 MPs, although the legality of their election is being challenged in the country’s Constitutional Court.
Unity-UNM is the third opposition force to officially ask the CEC to withdraw its lists, after coalition Strong Georgia and the Coalition for Change. This leaves ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party as the only one who has yet to formally request the CEC to withdraw its party list. The party has stated that it considers the elections rigged and the Parliament illegitimate. Gakharia’s team’s message has been that the party will not give legitimacy to the Parliament, without specifying any concrete actions to do so.
Also Read: