Georgian opposition politician Khoshtaria starts hunger strike, joined by colleague and activists
Elene Khoshtaria, the leader of the opposition Droa party, has started a hunger strike in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi. She was later joined by a colleague, as well as several activists.
Khoshtaria began her hunger strike on Friday evening. The politician said this was a form of her struggle at a time when ‘the regime has launched a new offensive and has imprisoned practically all politicians’.
‘Revolution and overthrowing them [Georgian Dream] with street [action] is the only way’, she told the public, adding that she is ready to ‘sacrifice herself to this regime’.
Later, Khoshtaria clarified that her decision was not directed at the authorities, since she does not expect Georgian Dream to be moved by anyone’s hunger strike.
In a social media statement on Sunday, Khoshtaria explained that her hunger strike was a statement that the struggle against Georgian Dream must continue with ‘great determination’, including through a full boycott of the upcoming local elections by the opposition, the creation of a political alternative, and intensifying the protests.
‘At this stage, I consider it crucial for political parties to have clarity on their strategy of struggle, because as long as Georgian Dream is on the offensive, our ambiguity fuels nihilism’, she wrote.
In television interviews, Khoshtaria emphasised the necessity for the opposition to rule out all forms of cooperation with Georgian Dream. In her view, a boycott of the October 2025 local elections should be a crucial part of this non-cooperation policy.
‘Either we achieve full unity and consolidation, or this regime will swallow us one by one’, she added.
Khoshtaria’s hunger strike was announced amid the arrests of numerous opposition leaders for failing to appear before a parliamentary commission created to investigate the opposition. Virtually all political leaders from the opposition Coalition for Change, except Khoshtaria, have been jailed on similar accusations. Zurab Japaridze of Girchi — More freedom as well as Ahali leader Nika Melia have already been sentenced to seven and eight months respectively, while Nika Gvaramia, another leader of Ahali, remains in pre-trial detention.
Other opposition groups were also affected by the wave of arrests. Lelo chairs Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze were jailed for eight months each, while Strategy Aghmashenebeli’s Giorgi Vashadze was sentenced to seven months.
The arrests were preceded by a lengthy discussion among opposition parties regarding participation in the local elections.
Some of the main opposition groups, including Coalition for Change and Unity — United National Movement, have decided to boycott the elections, stating that they do not recognise the legitimacy of Georgian Dream’s government following last October’s disputed parliamentary elections. For their part, Lelo and Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party have not ruled out taking part in the vote.
In response to a Palitra News journalist’s question about whether she would end her hunger strike if the entire opposition agreed to boycott the elections, Khoshtaria replied, ‘Yes’.
‘If this clarity is established — and I’m not saying that this clarity has to be exactly the way I see it [...] if we fundamentally agree on zero cooperation [with Georgian Dream], on non-acceptance, and on non-recognition, then on the contrary, I will channel all my energy into the struggle I believe in’, she said.
Activists join Khoshtaria
Over the weekend, Gedevan Popkhadze, a member of Khoshtaria’s coalition, joined her hunger strike.
‘Either death or victory — this is our attitude toward the regime. That is why, from today, I am with Elene’, he said on Saturday after arriving at parliament.
According to the local media, four activists — Vasil Eliava, Giorgi Stepanov, Bacho Kutsia, and Vakho Pitskhelauri — also decided to join the hunger strike.
On Saturday, several female politicians from various opposition parties arrived at parliament in solidarity with Khoshtaria.
‘We express our solidarity with her as a politician, as a mother, and as a woman, and we value this act of self-sacrifice’, Teona Chlaidze, a member of Unity – United National Movement coalition, said, as quoted by Netgazeti.
On the same day, German Ambassador to Georgia Peter Fischer also visited the site and met with those on hunger strike. Later, Fischer was criticised by Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, who said, ‘anyone who visits a hunger striker and does not advise them to stop self-harm is an accomplice to suicide!’
This is not the first time that Khoshtaria has used a hunger strike as a form of protest. In 2021, she went on a 17-day hunger strike demanding that former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who was already in custody at that time and also on hunger strike, be transferred to a civilian clinic.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
