UNM’s Grigol Vashadze Presented as Opposition's Presidential Candidate

10 opposition parties have united under the name - Power Is In Unity. The union has named a member of the former ruling party, the United National Movement (UNM), Grigol Vashadze, as their presidential candidate.

Power Is In Unity is composed of representatives from the following opposition parties: New Georgia, Serve Georgia, National Democratic Party, State for People, Christian Conservative Party, United National Movement, Civil Alliance for Freedom, New Georgia, Georgia Among Leaders, and Georgia’s European Democrats.

The parties signed a joint declaration On July 16 and nominated Vashadze on July 17.

Since 2017, Grigol Vashadze has been a member of UNM's political council. He served as the Foreign Minister of Georgia from 2008-2012. Before that, he had a short-lived run as the Minister of Culture, in office for just one month.

In the 2017 local elections, UNM nominated Vashadze as their candidate for Mayor of Kutaisi, but in run-offs he was defeated by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) candidate Giorgi Chigvaria.

The united opposition claims their candidate will be a “worthy president” who will serve the people, not any concrete political party.

Meanwhile, GD member and Chairman of Parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze, says Vashadze is a “weak” candidate and he will not be competitive.

According to unofficial information, GD will support independent MP Salome Zurabishvili in the presidential elections, scheduled for October 2018.

By Thea Morrison