Three Georgian Dream MPs Step Outside Party, Faction

MP Mamuka Mdinaradze, the chairperson of the ruling Georgian Dream parliamentary faction announced this evening that GD lawmakers Dimitri Khundadze, Mikheil Kavelashvili, and Sozar Subari will quit both the Georgian Dream party and the faction.

MP Mdinaradze said the three MPs disagreed on the Georgian Dream’s reserved stance and the degree of information leaks from behind the scenes.

“In their opinion, our team’s dosing of [to publicize] information on political issues in our country is not enough for the public to be aware of the state of affairs and draw the right conclusions. They believe that more information about political facts and events should be disseminated from behind the scenes,” he stated.

It was not immediately clear whether the contested “dosage of information” refers to the uneven process of Georgia’s European integration.

Earlier PM Irakli Garibashvili warned to “lift the curtain on everything and tell everything to our people” if the EU decision on Georgia’s candidate status would be “unfair.” But the GD authorities so far seemingly opted for “not lifting curtains” as the EU acknowledged the European perspective for Georgia, albeit short of immediate candidacy. MORE

According to MP Mdinaradze, the three lawmakers “decided that they needed a free parliamentary mandate to voice this. It is possible that they could cause some inconveniences within the team in this direction.”

Khundadze’s EU-sceptic Remarks

Responding to the European Parliament’s resolution, MP Khundadze said on June 10 “we will not give up our dignity to get the status” of EU candidate. “If Georgia receives the status of a candidate with the same unjust obligations as the unjust accusations reflected in the resolution, then the country should refuse in response.”

He then also said, “we had a feeling that Georgia’s independence was once again under threat.”

“What difference does it make to us, who will be our ruler, if it means that we have to fight for our independence again?” he asked, seemingly putting Georgia’s occupier Russia on par with the European Union. MORE

It is noteworthy, that MP Dimitri Khundadze has a track record of dissociating himself formally from the ruling party’s official position. He was among the Georgian Dream lawmakers, who voted against and thus unexpectedly disrupted the transition to the proportional election system starting in 2020 parliamentary polls.

The decision, from which the ruling party first distanced itself, but subsequently defended, deepened Georgia’s political crisis in late 2019.

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