Georgian Party - ‘Well-being, security and progress’

The Georgian Party is the name of the new opposition party formed by the former Defense Minister of Georgia, Irakli Okruashvili, leader of Defense Georgia, Levan Gachechiladze, former Ambassador of Georgia to Russia, Erosi Kintsmarishvili, former Ombudsman, Sozar Subari and the opposition representative, Koka Guntsadze. The official presentation of the party was held at the Sheraton Metekhi Palace hotel, on October 12. The Party's slogan was also announced – ‘Well-being, security and progress’ and statements that the party plans to change the present authority and take responsibility for the country’s future.

“We should see the battle through from start to finish; there is no other way but to fight. We will take on the responsibility with all forces who want to change the present authorities. In addition we will take on the responsibility not only to change the present regime, but for the country’s future as well,” Gachechiladze said. He also touched upon foreign policy and the party’s future priorities, commenting, “Without the normalisation of relations with Russia, Georgia can’t be a successful country; we welcome good relations with Russia and with all our neighbours. At the same time, integration in European structures remains one of the main priorities of the party.”

“This is a very serous coalition of people acting in different fields. Our main goal is first of all a battle to survive and pull the country out of a very difficult situation and secondly, the formation of a real Georgian statehood. As for more detailed information, it will be very soon be released to Georgian society,” Subari told The Messenger and also commented on Georgian - NATO relations, “The fact that NATO has not become a guarantor of the country’s security can only be blamed on present authorities’ short sighted policy,” Subari said.

Another member of the party, Guntsadze informed The Messenger, “We use every method in the fight against the present authorities. If they oppose us and the Georgian people with aggression, they can be sure that our response will also be aggressive.”

The Messenger has gathered information regarding the non-parliamentary opposition’s opinion on the new party and tried to understand what the parliamentary opposition thinks about it. “We welcome the creation of the new opposition party; everyone who is in its leadership has played a significant role in Georgian life. As for our Movement’s actual decision on collaborating with them, we will decide this after receiving more information on their plans. In general we welcome them and wish them success,” Inga Grigolia, from the Christian Democratic Movement told The Messenger. Parliamentary minority representative, Jondi Baghaturia’s press service told The Messenger, he has no comment on the issue.

The Georgian authorities think that the new Georgian Party has no chance of success. “I can say that this party has no chance to be successful. Those figures involved in the party are people with no priorities and political initiatives, just aggression. The country needs a real opposition, but too many question marks hang over the new coalition, including their connections with Russia,” Majority MP, Akaki Minashvili stated.

Analyst Gia Khukhashvili told The Messenger, “I do not want to be sceptical, I will assess the political process in general: there is a saying something along the lines of: we will go with the other way. I mentioned this saying because when one party says something, others respond like this - I will go with my own way. The result is the number of political parties and unifications in the country, which is absurd,” Khukhashvili said and added, “Really, as for this unification, almost all its members, bat one – that is Sozar Subari have significant sins, and their connections are not positive. It is unlikely the party will achieve positive results. However, we cannot rule out some success and I want them to create something useful for the country. The country has a need for new opposition faces; the opposition should regain the public’s trust. For now however I cannot see any person among the opposition who would be able to persuade the people that the interests of the country stand above any personal ambitions – this would be the main way of gaining society’s trust.”