Nika Melia

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The attack on Melia. Screengrab from video.

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia attacked during campaign event

by OC Media

•3 min read

Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia was punched while giving an interview to media in western Georgia, with his attacker presumably remaining at large. Melia was attacked on Sunday as he was campaigning for October’s parliamentary elections in the western Georgian town of Samtredia. Melia is the co-chair of the opposition party Ahali and a member of Coalition for Change, together with the Droa, and Girchi — More Freedom parties. Footage of the incident shows the attacker punching Melia,

Nika Melia (left) and Nika Gvaramia (right) at the unveling of their new party, Ahali. Screengrab via Mtavari Arkhi.

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Gvaramia and Melia present new opposition party

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

Nika Melia, the former chair of the United National Movement (UNM), Georgia’s largest opposition party, and Nika Gvaramia, the founder of opposition TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, have officially unveiled their new political party, Ahali (‘New’). Announcing the party’s formation, Gvaramia stated that his and Melia’s party would fight for changes in Georgia ‘in new ways’. ‘We will change [it] because we know the struggle, we know the price of integrity, we know the price of serving the motherland,

Nika Melia. Image: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Georgia

Former Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia to form new party

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

The former chair of the United National Movement (UNM) has announced he is leaving to found his own party, following months of speculation and internal conflict within Georgia’s largest opposition party. At a briefing on Thursday evening, Nika Melia said the UNM had made ‘informal management and behind-the-scenes influences’ its political standard, and accused the party of being politically corrupt. He added that the party was in the habit of ‘persecuting dissent’ and ‘closing the door to de

The United National Movement’s headquarters in Batumi. OC Media.

Georgia

Dozens of UNM council members leave party in opposition to current chair

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

Around 60 United National Movement (UNM) regional councillors and senior members have formally left Georgia’s largest opposition group, with some saying that they would join the party’s former chair, Nika Melia, if he launched his own party. Several city councillors and members of the UNM in Khobi, Batumi, Zugdidi, and Chiatura have left the party this week as tensions between Melia and Levan Khabeishvili, the current chair of the party, come to a head. On Wednesday, 10 out of 11 UNM Khobi C

United National Movement Chair Levan Khabeishvili. Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Georgia

Former UNM chair Nika Melia ‘no longer’ a member of the party

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•1 min read

The United National Movement’s Chair, Levan Khabeishvili, has said that the party’s former leader, Nika Melia, is ‘not a member’ of the party anymore. In an interview with Formula on Sunday, Khabeishvili appeared to dodge questions about Melia’s current status within the party. Speculation about whether Melia was still a member of the UNM peaked after he and several key supporters within the party refused to sign a ‘manifesto of unity’ last week. Khabeishvili and other party leaders warned

Nika Melia. Image: Shota Kincha/OC Media

Georgia

Internal strife overshadows the UNM’s ‘manifesto of unity’

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

Georgia’s largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), has adopted a new ‘manifesto for unity’ without the approval of several senior members, potentially deepening internal strife within the party. The manifesto was signed during the party’s commemoration of the Rose Revolution’s 20th anniversary. The revolution catapulted the party, then-led by Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former president of Georgia, into power until they were unseated by Georgian Dream in 2012.

Levan Khabeishvili. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Georgia

UNM elects new leader following criticism for failing to free Saakashvili

by Shota Kincha

•2 min read

Members of the Georgian opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), have voted to replace party head Nika Melia with Levan Khabeishvili in a victory for the pro-Saakashvili faction within the party. Following two days of voting on Monday, the party announced that Khabeishvili had soundly trounced Melia, winning 53% of the vote compared to Melia’s 40%. The vote was seen as key in deciding the future of Georgia’s largest opposition party. Since becoming chair in December 2020, Melia