Presidential candidates Salome Zurabishvili and Grigol Vashadze casting their ballots (Mari Nikuradze, Facebook)
Georgia’s political scene is heating up as the country braces for a presidential run-off election. After Georgian Dream–endorsed Salome Zurabishvili failed to win a majority in the first round, members of the ruling party warned of ‘violence’ or a ‘civil war’ if the opposition’s Grigol Vashadze comes out on top. [Read more…]
Guram Kashia against the backdrop of anti-queer protesters (Background photo: Giorgi Gogua /Liberali. Front photo: Reuters)
Dato Parulava is a staff writer at OC Media and Liberali.
In the face of abuse and threats over wearing a rainbow armband at a match, Georgia’s football captain, Guram Kashia, has received an unprecedented outpouring of support. Regardless of how much this support means for the queer community, we need to ask whether it is really for them, given that Kashia’s most prominent supporters have avoided mentioning queer people entirely. [Read more…]
Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Bidzina Ivanishivli, Kakha Kaladze (/Georgian Dream)
On 11 May, Georgian Dream elected former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili as its chairman, formalising his return to the Georgian political scene. His comeback follows reports of intra-party tensions and continued allegations of Ivanishvili’s informal rule after his resignation and official retirement from politics in late 2013. [Read more…]
