What the opposition is going to do in the 2020 parliamentary elections, whether the parties will have common candidates in the majoritarian districts?

As it known, the Georgian opposition parties plan to nominate joint majoritarian candidates if the upcoming parliamentary elections later this year.

It should be mentioned that opposition parties still say they will refuse to enter into a dialogue with the ruling party which they suspended after the detention of Gigi Ugulava.

Roman Gotsiridze, a member of the National Movement,

“The information which was spread about the candidates in the majoritarian districts, is incorrect. In the party we have not even discussed it. The list and the majoritarian constituencies will be distributed after the opposition decides”, - explained Roman Gotsiridze.

Sergo Ratiani, a member of the European Georgia

“The final agreement is not reached. I can’t say anything about specific surnames. But naturally the leaders will be presented in certain constituencies. We have our candidates, but it is entirely up to the opposition and the circumstances of who will be most useful”, - said Sergo Ratiani.

Anzor Bitsadze, a member of the United Georgia-Democratic Movement

“The agreement has not been reached yet, it is at the level of preliminary talks and it is too early to say which politician will be nominated. It is not the opposition’s priority right now. Naturally, when it comes to common agreement, these surnames and others can naturally be mentioned. But we didn’t start talking about it”, - said Anzor Bitsadze.

Carl Hartzell - EU Ambassador to Georgia

“The date of the next meeting for the dialogue is not yet known, but there is a possibility. Along with other mediators, I continue to work in order to find a common space for everyone to renew dialogue. The window of opportunities closes and there is very little time left. So we do our best to find this common space”, - concluded Hartsell.

Informal and friendly dinner

US Deputy Ambassador Elizabeth Rood hosted a dinner for representatives of the authorities and the opposition, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps. Although the participants said that it was just a friendly meeting, most likely, the upcoming elections were discussed.

As Nino Burjanadze, leader of the Democratic Movement - United Georgia, said, it was not a round of negotiations, it was an exchange of views and an attempt to find a way out of the political crisis: “There was a desire to find a way out of this situation so that political forces in the country, both pro-government and opposition, could move to a normal electoral mode and achieve an environment as fair as possible. This is very important and it is natural that the exchange of views has a positive impact in this regard. It was not a round of negotiations, it was an exchange of views and an attempt to find a way out of the political crisis”.

According to the independent MP Tamar Chugoshvili, during the meeting no specific issues were discussed: “This was another informal, friendly, diplomatic meeting organized by the US Deputy Ambassador, which was not aimed at discussing specific issues or reaching specific agreements. Therefore, there was no discussion of any specific issues, we discussed general challenges facing our country. This meeting was not aimed at replacing a dialogue, it was simply a friendly dinner organized by our friendly ambassadors”.