UNM Leader Grigol Vashadze Leaves the Party

Leaders of the opposition United National Movement Grigol Vashadze is leaving the Party, he announced on Facebook. He claims he does not agree with the tactics chosen by the majority of the party leadership without consulting the party members. He also expressed concern about the "campaign of attacks and insults" against the heads of the diplomatic missions of the strategic allies.

“I have decided to resign from all positions and leave the party. 

“This step is very difficult for me, but I do not see any other option. Since January 2017, over four years, I have been trying to do everything possible to strengthen the party, to keep it as the main opposition force, and as a result, obtain a mandate from the Georgian citizen to return to power. I think we have achieved a lot, but there are facts that I categorically cannot tolerate. I do not agree with the tactics chosen by the majority of the party leadership without consulting the party members. The lack of party strategy is even more unacceptable to me. It only plays into the hands of the Georgian Dream. I cannot tolerate the fact that such odious figures are around and inside the party, whom we passed to the past long ago, who will never regain the trust of the electorate," he stated. 

Vashadze wrote that he does not understand what the purpose behind the attacks against diplomats is, nor who launched them.

“This is the biggest damage to Georgia’s relations with the United States, the European Union, and EU member states. It seems as though the participants of this campaign do not realize that an attack on an ambassador is the same as an attack on the state they represent, a state that has been guarding our territorial integrity together with the citizens of Georgia since it gained independence. I apologize to our friends!

"I will not continue to list the problems, because the party members themselves talk about them in private conversations. For me, being in the minority or even alone is not a problem. The problem is that I cannot be where I do not see the opportunity and desire to learn from mistakes. I may be wrong. I think we will judge the future very soon.

"I have a sincere request to our esteemed journalists - do not make me turn off the phone. I'm not going to give interviews or comments, nor participate in talk shows. I say goodbye to the party members with love, and I wish them to achieve the long-awaited victory very soon”, Grigol Vashadze wrote.

By Ana Dumbadze 

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