New voices: Christian Democrats speak out

The parliamentary minority Christian-Democratic movement, named its majoritarian candidates for 8 out of the 10 districts of Tbilisi. The candidates are represented by the head of the movement, Giorgi Targamadze, while meeting with supporters at the Basketball Palace of Vera Garden on August 14.

The candidates are: Vake-Nino Gurieli, Chughureti-Kakha Basilia, Krtsanisi-Zaza Gabunia, Isani-Levan Vepkhvadze, Gldani-Inga Grigolia, Nadzaladevi-Jaba Samushia, Samgori-Magda Anikashvili, Mtsatsminda-Peria Antia. The majoritarian candidates for Didube and Saburtalo will be named later, based on Targamadze.

Representing the candidates was not the single issue Targamadze touched upon; he has also made pre-election promises and criticized “the main political players.”

“We will invest 1 billion GEL to redeem Telasi and energy-pro shares. The price of communal fees will be reduced in this case,” Targamadze said, without stating where the movement plans to attract the sum.

The movement leader also underscored that the Christian-Democratic Movement is the only one that has a real plan on how to develop agriculture in the country.

After specifying future plans, Targamadze has tried to illustrate that there are no real difference between the main political forces in the country.

“It will be cleared up on October 1 whether or not Georgians will manage to distinguish wolves hidden in sheep’s skin,” Targamadze stated, adding that there is a great similarity between the main political players.

“With regard to content and ideology, they are really no different from each other. One political force is trying to preserve power, when another is trying to get it,” Targamadze said.

The majoritarian candidate of the movement, Inga Grigolia, talked about the “mortal experiment” undertaken by the government in Tbilisi.

“[One example of an experiment] was when the government linked electricity fees to garbage collection. I am ready to prove to any government representative during the television debates that they are guilty in making experiments on people,” Grigolia said.

Grigolia was sure that the Christian-Democrats will have a “very good” outcome in the parliamentary elections.

Not unlike, the Christian Democrats, all the rest of the political parties are sure in their success. The opposition coalition Georgian Dream is completely sure that its candidates will win in all 10 districts of Tbilisi and take Christian –Democratic movement as allied to the ruling party.

The same aspirations concerning future success have been voiced by the ruling team, they are also sure that National Movement candidates will be the most supported ones. It should also be mentioned that the Christian Democrats pre-election promises were frequently “laughed at” by the majority representatives.

Political analyst, Ramaz Sakvarelidze considers that different political forces use various ways for achieving success and getting as many votes as possible.

“There are political parties that are focused on choosing well-known majoritarian candidates and attracting more votes through strategy. There are those who are oriented on using administrative resources– the ruling party for example, and they choose such people as candidates for whom such resources are available,” Sakvarelidze told The Messenger.

The analyst also underscored that currently, it is difficult to specify which strategy might be more profitable. “In the case that both strategies work appropriately, the outcome will be 50/50,” Sakvarelidze stated.