Alliance of Patriots Names Its Tbilisi Mayoral Candidate

Georgian parliamentary opposition party Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (APG), often affiliated with Russia, has named Irma Inashvili as its candidate for Tbilisi Mayor.

Inashvili’s candidacy was presented by one of the AGP leaders, Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi on Wednesday. According to him, the local self-governing elections will be a political process that will be conducted against the background of a large-scale protest, which Irma Inashvili will lead.

“We are going to organize rallies and we need a person who will turn these elections into a political process and Irma Inashvili is the ideal candidate; adding a new spirit to the elections,” he stated.

At the press-conference, Inashvili said that the elections should give people more faith and confidence to participate in the voting process. She said the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) has not done anything for the country.

“We do not want theatric politics any more. Politics is not a spectacle. For 25 years, Mayors and Governors have interfered with elections, manipulated election lists and have intimidated voters,” she stressed.

In total there are six mayoral candidates including Inashvili: Georgian Dream – Kakha Kaladze, The United National Movement - Zaal Udumashvili, European Georgia – Elene Khoshtaria, the Development Movement- Tengiz Shergilashvili and ndependent candidate Alexander Elisashvili.

The local elections are scheduled for October 2017.

By Thea Morrison