UNM criticises Zourabichvili for saying political unity is ‘unattainable’

The United National Movement (UNM), one of Georgia’s largest opposition parties, has criticised Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, for saying that political unity between opposition groups was ‘externally imposed’ and ‘unattainable’.

On Saturday, Zourabichvili told the Alliance of Regional Broadcasters that the opposition’s ‘unity is an externally imposed topic that is unattainable’.

‘It has never been my goal to unite [the opposition], I must say once and for all that unification means that we are preparing for the future, once again, for one-party rule. I think that what we have experienced so far is enough for us’, she said.

‘I am preparing and I am quite optimistic in this direction, preparing with strong coordination. Strong coordination is what can withstand everything, and a false unification is the most vulnerable’.

Zourabichvili went on to elaborate that this ‘strong coordination’ should be between political parties and the society, which she said was ‘leading’ the recent wave of protests against the government which have been ongoing for over 100 days.

‘Everyone who is involved, every segment of this society should participate in this coordination with their own means so that we can truly unleash a public struggle. Coordination is necessary, otherwise we will be scattered and this movement will not take its final form’, she said.

The UNM’s former leader and current head of its political council, Levan Khabeishvili, harshly criticised Zourabichvili’s statements on Sunday, saying that her opinion was no longer legitimate.

‘I don’t know what Salome Zourabichvili is talking about, to be honest, I’m not even very interested in what this person is talking about. The attitude of the Georgian people towards this government is very important to me. I want to say a very simple thing: we must confront force with force and work in a coordinated manner with the Georgian people’, he said.

‘[She] is no longer the president […] after some time, her term was running out, therefore, it’s no longer of interest to me today’, he said, referring to her vow to ‘remain’ as president following the expiration of her term.

Georgia’s disputed President Mikheil Kavelashvili was sworn in December 2024, but despite him assuming office, a large part of the opposition and some of Georgia’s western partners still recognise her as the president of Georgia.

The UNM’s chair, Tina Bokuchava, also criticised Zourabichvili’s remarks, albeit with a softer tone.

She told media that ‘the insurmountable difference between the UNM and Zourabichvili will remain that she did not make the decision to pardon [imprisoned former] President [Mikheil] Saakashvili’.

Saakashvili, who has been imprisoned since September 2021, has been found guilty in four out of five cases against him, with the most recent ruling being handed down to him on Monday, when he was found guilty of illegally crossing into Georgia.

He is expected to remain in prison until at least 2032.

‘Despite the fact that we consider Salome Zourabichvili’s decision not to pardon the third president to be extremely unfair, President Saakashvili himself asked his supporters and the [UNM] to participate in all formats that serve the unity of the opposition’, Bokuchava said.

‘However, decisions must be made here as well, I hope that 31 March will be an opportunity for this and we should set this as a kind of deadline, because if this unity is truly ephemeral, unrealistic, and utopian, then we should end the false talk about this and all parties should act within their capabilities to defeat [Bidzina] Ivanishvili’s regime’.

‘The [UNM] promotes unity in every respect. We believe that this is the most correct way to win, however, this is a democracy where everyone has the constitutional right to determine their own “modus operandi” and we cannot force anyone to unite in a large common positional front, where we would be ready to coordinate with everyone, including Salome Zourabichvili’.

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The Georgian Charter

In the run-up to the October 2024 parliamentary elections, Zourabichvili announced the creation of the Georgian Charter — an agreement to support an interim government chosen by the president to push through EU reforms following the elections.

The charter was signed by all four of Georgia’s major opposition groups, including Unity — National Movement, the parliamentary grouping created by the UNM and Strategy Aghmashenebeli.

The parliamentary elections’ official results gave Georgian Dream a large majority, with 54% of the vote, plunging the country into a political crisis with waves of protests.

Today, parliament is virtually devoid of any opposition representation barring Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party’s 12 MPs, who are boycotting all sessions.

In the beginning of February, the parliamentary majority expelled 49 opposition MPs — who were also boycotting all sessions — from parliament. The expelled MPs belonged to the Unity — National Movement, Strong Georgia, and Coalition for Change groups.

Since October’s vote, Georgia’s opposition has been campaigning for new elections, which Georgian Dream refuses to hold.

Instead, the ruling party and its satellites in parliament have called on their political opponents  to ‘test themselves’ in the municipal elections, in which it is still unclear whether representatives of the four opposition groups intend to participate.

Several members of the UNM have already stated that they see no point in participating in the municipal elections held during the Georgian Dream party’s rule.

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