Gakharia's party ends boycott of parliament

Twelve representatives of the opposition party "Gakharia for Georgia" plan to begin work in the Georgian Parliament, which they boycotted for almost a year after the elections.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, in early July, Georgian Dream MPs terminated the mandates of 12 MPs from the opposition party "Gakharia for Georgia." The mandates of party leader Giorgi Gakharia and 11 representatives of his political force were terminated due to their failure to appear at sessions without a valid reason.

Party leader Giorgi Sharashidze announced at a briefing today that the boycott of the 11th parliament has ended. He explained that Gela Abuladze, Jemal Ananidze, Ketevan Barakadze, Rusudan Tevzadze, Malkhaz Toria, Shalva Kereselidze, Salome Kobaladze, Giga Parulava, Vika Pilpani, Giorgi Sharashidze, Tamar Khvedeliani, and Sophio Khorguani, the successors of deputies whose powers were previously terminated, will begin work in parliament.

According to Sharashidze, the party recognizes the decision to boycott parliament, made after the elections on October 26, 2024, as a mistake. The absence of opposition representatives in the legislative body, he said, created conditions for the introduction of anti-democratic laws and the worsening of the autocratic regime.

"The boycott of parliament, which escalated into a boycott of the entire political process, effectively removed the opposition from the political arena. As a result, the Dream was able to act very quickly, without any resistance (...) We must admit that the disappearance of the opposition from the political process has left people defenseless against the regime – the number of new political prisoners is growing daily," InterPressNews quotes Giorgi Sharashidze as saying.

The politician expressed regret that immediately after the 2024 elections, his party was unable to convince representatives of other opposition forces that had entered parliament that the annulment of mandates was a mistake. The mandates of 49 parliamentarians from three opposition groups (the UNM, the Coalition for Change, and Strong Georgia) were annulled back in early February, based on their own statements.

Earlier, the party's representative, former parliament member Teona Akubardia, stated that For Georgia would not participate in parliament until the protesters' main demands—new parliamentary elections and the release of all those detained during the protests—were met.