Asef Chiragov, the opposition Lelo party’s mayoral candidate in the municipality of Bolnisi, Kvemo Kartli region, withdrew his candidacy in favour of a ruling Georgian Dream party candidate. Lelo has claimed that he was pressured or bribed into giving up his candidacy, while he claims he came to the decision himself.
Chiragov announced his withdrawal via Facebook on Monday, less than three weeks after being nominated by Lelo.
He said he agreed to run because he wanted to use his abilities to help care for his home region. However, in his own words, he soon realised that ‘certain individuals’ had tried to exploit his ‘resources and sincere intentions’ for ‘political interests’.
Chiragov did not specify what he meant.
‘On the other hand, I am convinced that Georgian Dream’s candidate, Mr Zamur Chitanava, when he wins, will genuinely take care of Bolnisi’s development and protect the interests of the municipality’s residents’, he added.
Before withdrawing, Chiragov shared updates on Lelo’s campaign activities and local candidates, as well as earlier posts about anti-government protests in Tbilisi.
In December, he shared a post by Lelo secretary-general and current Tbilisi mayoral candidate Irakli Kupradze showing masked attackers targeting an opposition-leaning TV journalist, captioned: ‘Unimaginable crime! Filthy [Georgian Dream] and Ivanishvili! You won’t get away with anything!’
According to 2014 data, the Bolnisi municipality has a population of up to 54,000. In the 2021 elections, Georgian Dream won there with 68% of the vote, according to official results.
On Tuesday, Kupradze said that a few days before Chiragov withdrew his candidacy, he informed his party colleagues that a close relative of his, who is an active police officer, had approached him and offered money in exchange for withdrawing, which Chiragov refused.
‘He [Chiragov] considers Georgian Dream to be a Russian regime and warned us that Georgian Dream continues attempts of bribery, threats, and blackmail in other municipalities’, Kupradze stated.
‘Four days later, Asef Chiragov withdrew his candidacy. Clearly, we must assume that when the bribery attempt failed against him, a much more violent and heavier pressure — or an attempt at blackmail — was then applied against Asef Chiragov’, he added.
According to Kupradze, in recent weeks, Lelo had faced ‘particularly intense pressure, threats, blackmail, and bribery attempts’.
‘We must understand that in regions, especially those with significant ethnic minority populations, the pressure, coercion, and State Security Service blackmail are much heavier’, he said, referring to the majority ethnic Azerbaijani population in Bolnisi.
Georgia’s local elections are scheduled to take place on 4 October amidst a widespread opposition boycott. Two major opposition groups, as well as some smaller parties, view participation as legitimising the Georgian Dream government, which the opposition has refused to recognise since the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections.
Only two major opposition parties — Lelo and For Georgia — have announced their participation, saying that this will strengthen the anti-government momentum and prevent Georgian Dream from gaining full control over all state institutions.
Ahead of the elections, they formed an alliance and presented joint candidates. However, neither party has a candidate in 29 out of 64 municipalities — including in Bolnisi following Chiragov’s withdrawal. Explaining the situation to local media, Giorgi Sioridze, a For Georgia member, said that partner parties focused on larger municipalities and cities where the opposition has a better chance.
Besides Georgian Dream, Lelo, and For Georgia, nine other parties are running, none of which cleared the 2024 parliamentary election threshold, and many remain largely unknown to the public. Of five other parties which also applied to run in the elections, three were denied registration, and two had their registration cancelled after failing to present candidates.
Alongside questions stemming from the disputed 2024 elections, the integrity of the 4 October vote is clouded by obstacles to election monitoring.
Against the backdrop of legislative pressure on civil society, one of Georgia’s largest election watchdogs, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), has already announced that it will not field an observation mission this year.
In addition, breaking with tradition, the OSCE/ODIHR will also not observe the local vote, citing Georgian Dream’s last-minute invitation as making ‘meaningful observation impossible’.
Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
