Anna Dolidze Joins Tbilisi Mayoral Race

Anna Dolidze, former Deputy Defense Minister and left-leaning leader of the newly established For People party, has joined Tbilisi Mayoral race for October 2 local elections.

At the presentation on August 14, held in a backyard of the residential building where she grew up, Dolidze began her speech with stressing the lack of green and public spaces in the capital. She said “this city is not for people.”

Referring to chaotic construction development of the capital city, Dolidze said only “concrete ghettos” remain of what once was green Tbilisi.

Dolidze also vowed to bring an end to hate, which she said was bred by the polarized political system dominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party and its arch-rival, the United National Movement.

Doctor of Juridical Science from Cornell Law School, Anna Dolidze founded For People party in May, stressing the need for building a welfare state.

Previously Dolidze ran as an independent candidate for Tbilisi’s Didube-Chughureti majoritarian district in October 2020 parliamentary elections. She received 17.95% of votes in the first round, coming in third after Georgian Dream’s Gia Volski with 42.64% and joint opposition candidate Zurab Japaridze of Girchi party with 21.06%.

Before launching her party-politics career, Dolidze served since 2018 as an outspoken non-judge member of the High Council of Justice, body overseeing Georgia’s judiciary. She was forced to resign from after founding Movement for People, a political outfit that preceded her For People party.

In February 2016, President Margvelashvili named Anna Dolidze as a candidate for a vacant Supreme Court seat, but the Parliament voted down her candidacy and she was appointed as the President’s Parliamentary Secretary.

Previously, Dolidze served as a Deputy Minister of Defense in 2015-2016. She also chaired Tbilisi-based legal advocacy group Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) in 2004-2006.

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