Gigi Ugulava Addresses UNM & Party Supporters in an Open Letter

TBILISI - The Former Mayor of Tbilisi, Gigi Ugulava has addressed the members of his coalition and supporters in an open letter. In the letter, Ugulava points out that the "National Movement" is the only political force capable of resisting the "undemocratic regime of Ivanishvili."

The former Mayor also reacted to the 2016 parliamentary elections and said that the actions of his party UNM radiated uncertainty and confusion during that period.

Ugulava wrote that main problem during the election campaign for UNM was that it was not really clear for the electorate who the UNM prime minister candidate was- Davit Bakradze or Former President, and now the governor of Odessa (Ukraine), Mikheil Saakahshvili.

Gigi Ugulava also said that he was going to resign from the post of chairman of UNM.

‘I'm going to resign from the post of chairman of the party [UNM] in order to give an opportunity to Tbilisi to choose a new chairman and get ready for the local elections. To be more specific, there should be elections for all key electoral posts of the party,’ writes Ugulava. However, he also pointed out that resigning from the post did not mean isolation from the party itself or the betrayal of other political prisoners.

‘We are providing a chance for the party to develop. It is a fact that we, imprisoned or persecuted politicians who are forced to remain abroad are unable to fully participate in party politics, hopefully temporarily. And when this obvious madness ends, I / we will be happy to be involved in the life of the party again and won’t be afraid of the internal competition.’

After the Georgian Dream coalition came to power, Gigi Uglava, the former Mayor of Tbilisi and the member of UNM was suspended on 22 December, 2013 from his functions for alleged misuse of funds. He was arrested in July 2014 on charges of money laundering. His supporters accuse the government of politically motivated persecution.

By Natia Lipartelian