Georgian President Georgi Margvelashvili said that the next elections of local self-government bodies will take place "by the end of the third week of October", that is, on October 21-22. The President intends to issue an official decree only in August, and only announced his political decision, thereby making it clear that he will play by his own rules, and not according to the interests of the Georgian Dream ruling party.
A long election campaign lasting three to four months is more profitable for the opposition, rather then the ruling party - the opposition has fewer financial resources, and it has no administrative levers, but they will have more time to meet with voters. And officials from the ruling party, on the contrary, are restricted by law in their right to participate in the election campaign from its beginning, especially in using budgetary funds for indirect advertising of the authorities.
The president himself does not intend to create a party to participate in municipal elections - he is aimed at the presidential elections of 2018. But all other political forces are preparing for the October elections as for a "last and decisive battle." If the opposition achieves noticeable success, it will undermine the authority of the ruling party and the government of Georgi Kvirikashvili.
But the Georgian Dream party is demonstrating in every possible way that it is also ready to fight. This is evidenced by the candidate for the post of Tbilisi mayor: the party nominated political heavyweight: former AC Milan's defender, vice premier, energy minister Kakha Kaladze, who is also the real leader of the party.
Kakha Kaladze
The opposition has already started the assault on Kaladze. The main accusation: the ex-football player allegedly is a 'pro-Russian politician'. In particular, supporters of Mikhail Saakashvili and other pro-Western forces cannot forgive him the agreement with Gazprom on shifting to a system of financial compensation for the transit of Russian gas into Armenia via the Vladikavkaz-Tbilisi-Yerevan strategic pipeline. Kaladze does not hide that he is prepared for a mutually beneficial compromise with the Russian energy giant, and winning the election will strengthen his position.
Zaliko Ududashvili
If Kaladze cannot win in the first round with 50% + 1 vote, he will have to compete in the second round with representative of Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM) party, popular TV host Zaliko Ududashvili and the European Georgia's candidate Elena Khoshtariya.
Elena Khoshtariya
There is also an independent candidate Aleko Elisashvili. He has already threatened to "smash everyone's teeth" and organize a revolution if the political elites concur or falsify the elections.
Aleko Elisashvili
Tbilisi is one third of Georgia's population and half of its economic potential. Therefore, the struggle for the post of the Tbilisi mayor (and it is the second position of the actual influence in the state) is expected to be serious.
Of equal interest are the direct elections of mayors in other major cities. The main intrigue is created by "independent candidates" nominated by groups of voters, or by small parties that are not included in the cage of influential political organizations of the country.
Many pro-Western experts and politicians themselves have repeatedly expressed their fear that through secret support for such candidates, Moscow can promote persons loyal to Russia, or at least those who are more inclined to compromise with Moscow, to important positions of mayors of large cities and heads of municipal bodies.
Thus, the Georgian Dream will receive an impetus to better listen the mood of middle-level bureaucracy expressing the interests of peasants oriented toward the Russian market.
Events of recent years have shown that large external players (the US, the EU, Russia), interested in the share of the political pie in various countries, sometimes pay as much attention to municipal elections as to parliamentary or presidential elections. Georgia is unlikely to be an exception. So, 'hot autumn' in the Caucasian country is guaranteed.
