‘See you soon’, says Parliament Speaker
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, November 14
Georgia’s Parliament Speaker and former leader of the Republican Party, David Usupashvili, held a farewell meeting with the legislative body staff last week, told them “see you soon” and not “good bye”, after the Republican Party, Usupashvili belonged to, failed to gain any seat in Parliament.
Usupashvili's Republican Party failed to overcome the five percent threshold in the last month’s Parliamentary elections and therefore couldn't qualify for the 150-member legislative body. However, he seemed to be in high spirits and hopeful about the future.
“I am full of happiness today, as one stage ends for the Parliament and a new, better stage starts; all the following stages will be better and better,” Usupashvili stated.
He praised the legislative body staff and emphasized they were the people who guaranteed the functioning of the entity.
Usupashvili stressed he was sure that Parliament staff would continue serving the country as they used to.
Usupashvili told journalists after the farewell ceremony that “it was good to experience being a parliament chairperson once in his/her life”.
“There are many other things that need to be done in the country, in Parliament in particular,” he said.
Usupashvili, who announced his leaving of the Republican Party shortly after the Parliament Elections, said he was eager to establish a new political force which chances to win the 2020 Parliamentary race, said:
“If you stay in politics, it means that you must be ready that one day, people may vote for you and even appear in Parliament,” Usupashvili said, smiling.
Usupashvili didn't mention whom he saw as his future ally, but said he started consultations that would allegedly take several months.
One thing he clearly stated was that the political coalition or a unity he wished to organize must be pro-Western and different from current political forces.
Georgian media speculated that the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, whose term would expire in 2018, could also appear in Usupashvili’s team, as the Constitution of Georgia might change before 2018 and Margvelashvili would have no chance to be re-elected. The founder of the current ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili does not like Giorgi Margvelashvili, although he himself promoted Margvelashvili for the President.
The President didn't confirm any such speculations.
Analyst Gia Khukhashvili said the “only worthy figure in the Republican Party was David Usupashvili”.
The analyst highlighted that after Usupashvili and other key figures left the party, the Republicans' political chances declined.
