Zaliko for Mayor: More Serious than You Think
OP-ED
The President has yet to announce the date of the local elections, but this hasn’t stopped the leading duelists from presenting their gladiators to the public. The former governmental party or the United National Movement has chosen TV Anchor of Rustavi 2 Zaal Udumashvili; and the Georgian Dream will announce on July 1 their candidate for the Mayor of Tbilisi - Kakhi Kaladze, the former Minister of Energy. Thus, the unofficial stopwatch will start ticking. Rumor has it that President Margvelashvili plans to set the date of the self-governmental elections for October 21 but the final answer may not come until 60 days prior to the date, so by the end of August.
Undoubtedly, the race for the post of city mayor will be the main and decisive show of the near future. Everyone agrees that the Tbilisi Mayor’s influence is no less than that of the Prime Minister, and surely of the President as well, who’s constitutional influence has diminished to that of the “The Shagreen Skin.”
Media and experts are eagerly trying to guess the chances of the candidates in the upcoming battle. “It is time Georgian Dream learned how to walk independently. If up till recently its baby walker was Ivanishvili, that time has passed,” said political analyst Soso Tsintsadze in his interview with newspaper Rezonansi. “Quite predictably, sooner or later, Ivanishvili would get bored of dragging them with him. He did everything for them, he handed over the government to them, but they started to writhe in place, competing with each other to make mistakes”.
In light of the upcoming elections, the “disappearance” of Ivanishvili seems quite suspicious; and this became even more apparent after the political council of the Georgian Dream announced Kaladze’s candidacy for the post of Mayor and stated that current mayor, Davit Narmania, would not be taking part in the race. Notably, four years ago, at that same political council meeting, it was Ivanishvili who announced Narmania’s candidacy, while today his chosen one was openly refused. So did Ivanishvili’s influence on the council of the governmental party diminish and did that of somebody, in this case Kaladze, increase? The “disappearance” of the billionaire is not coincidental. Notably Kaladze is not without his own millions, and he too comes from a province, which apparently satisfies the criteria set by Ivanishvili; even more, Kaladze seems more imposing than Narmania. Now, everything is on Kaladze to prove to Ivanishvili he is leaving Georgian Dream in reliable hands.
The National Movement’s candidate, Zaal Udumashvili from Rustavi 2, is another story though. Preliminary data suggests he has high chances to beat his rival Elene Khoshtaria, from European Georgia, as well as others. If he takes second place in the mayoral race, it will already be a very serious victory for the UNM, even if he ends up way behind Kaladze. Nominating Udumashvili is a very clever and insightful decision by Mikheil Saakashvili. Bringing the Kurieri anchor into big politics was instantly regarded as another Saakashvili moment of craziness; “how could you compare him with vice-premier Kaladze?” asked the political class. In reality though, what makes Udumashvili less than Kaladze apart from money? Well, in reality, not much- in some components, he might be even better.
At least he is not from the province and is a Tbilisian, as they love to highlight here; also “Zaliko” is a face without bureaucratic and/or political baggage like Kaladze; he’s imposing, “stylish” and popular. Moreover, the masses perceive him as a solid and nice person, which is no small thing. Most importantly, he doesn’t bring out any aggression in people. So, “Zaliko Udumashvili for Major of Tbilisi” – is not a mistake, but a very serious political step! Let’s see what happens in the pre-election period.
Zaza Jgarkava