Opposition Scrambles to Prepare for Elections
After gaining the upper hand by setting an earlier local election date than initially promised, the ruling National Movement party is now calmly watching opposition parties scramble to find a way to effectively challenge the incumbent authorities in the October 5 elections.
Most of the leading opposition parties are now rushing to prepare their election tactics by September 7. The law says that parties wishing to unite in an election bloc should appeal to the Central Election Commission no later than 28 days before the elections date.
Currently, four opposition parties – New Rights, Republican, Conservative and Industrialist – are talking about forming a joint election bloc to run against the majority National Movement party. But a recent proposal of the New Rights party, involving the nomination of influential financial and media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili as the opposition’s single candidate for the Tbilisi mayoral race, may undermine any chance of the parties forming a unified bloc.
MP Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of New Rights party, outlined two factors that he thinks will increase the opposition’s chances in the elections: the creation of an effective opposition election bloc and the nomination of Patarkatsishvili by this bloc as their single candidate for Tbilisi Mayor’s Office.
“The New Rights’ position is that participation in these elections is only possible if there is a chance for success. The chance for success remains high if Badri Patarkatsishvili agrees to run [for Tbilisi Mayor’s Office]. In few days Patarkatsishvili plans to return to Tbilisi [from London] and I will continue consultations with him. On the other hand, the formation of a favorable configuration of opposition parties is also necessary for victory in the elections,” MP Gamkrelidze said at a news conference on August 29.
Senior activists of the New Rights party say that the opposition should challenge authorities in the local elections “with extraordinary decisions,” such as nominating Patarkatsishvili.
There was a cautious response from the other opposition parties to the New Rights proposal.
Industrialist Party leader MP Zurab Tkemaladze said his party plans to nominate beer magnate Gogi Topadze, who is the party founder, to run for Tbilisi mayor.
“But of course if other opposition parties want to hold consultations about a single opposition candidate we are certainly ready for this,” MP Tkemaladze said on August 29.
Meanwhile, MP Kakha Kukava of the Conservative Party said on August 29 that the “some of the opposition parties that could potentially form an elections bloc object to the nomination of Patarkatsishvili.”
The Republican Party seems to be among those against Patarkatsishvili’s nomination.
“Our party has never considered nominating Patarkatsishvili as a mayoral candidate,” Davit Usupashvili, the leader of Republican Party, told Civil Georgia on August 22.
Republican and Conservative parties are the most likely to form an elections bloc.
“Now we are waiting for the Industrialists and New Rights response, whether they are ready for cooperation with us,” Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party told Imedi television on August 30.
The radical opposition Labor Party has not yet made a final decision on its election tactics. Party leader Shalva Natelashvili said on August 29 that his party will announce whether or not it will run in the October 5 local elections on August 31.
The Labor Party has been calling for “thwarting local elections through massive boycotting.” But Natelashvili also said that boycotting will only be effective if it is supported by most of the leading opposition parties.
If the Labor Party decides not to boycott it will most likely run in the local elections independently without teaming up with the rest of the opposition, the same tactic that ex-Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili’s Georgia’s Way party has chosen.
So far only the Freedom Party, led by Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, has announced the intention to boycott elections.