Georgia's UNM head Vashadze leaves party

Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Grigol Vashadze has said that he has left the party, saying that the presence of ‘odious figures’ in the party and attacks on the diplomatic corps and ‘other controversies’ pushed him to resign. 

Vashadze said in his Facebook post released earlier today that he has done his best as the head of the party since January 2017 to make the party stronger. 

Last month Vashadze called on other opposition parties to sit at a table with the ruling Georgian Dream party to resolve election-related complications.

Other members of the UNM said that ‘the statement is Vashadze’s personal opinion which was not agreed upon with us,’ while the members of other opposition parties which took to the street following the October 31 parliamentary elections, said that Vashadze’s statement was ‘unexpected and confusing.’ 

Eight opposition parties and election blocs which were voted in on the October 31 parliamentary elections, with the UNM election bloc receiving far more seats than other opposition parties, say that the elections were fabricated and are demanding repeat elections. Diplomatic corps are now mediating talks between the ruling party and the opposition to help the parties end the political crisis.