UNM holds primary for selecting a presidential candidate

On June 17, the oppositional United National Movement (UNM) finally declared that it will conduct primaries to identify their candidate for presidency. Thus, the UNM kicked-off its presidential race, even though the exact candidates for primaries have not yet been nominated.

Just about a week before the end of June, either the volunteers or a group of UNM representatives will nominate their candidacy. The primary will last for about a month. The debates will be held on the regional levels and as the UNM promises, the best candidate will be selected.

Head of the parliamentary minority, UNM member Davit Bakradze promised to establish democratic standards in the Georgian election system. Bakradze also mentioned that the detention of the UNM Secretary General, Vano Merabishvili, will not damage the unity and moral of the party members. The UNM promises to nominate and select worthy candidates.

Although most analysts suggest that the Georgian Dream candidate, Giorgi Margvelashvili, will be the winner, the UNM still continues its rhetoric promising to seriously challenge Magvelashvili and win the presidential election.

There are speculations about people who might be nominated as the UNM candidates. They are: Davit Bakradze, Gia Baramidze and Gigi Tsereteli. Vano Merabishvili, who is currently detained, will supposedly not participate in the primaries.

On June 17, the Georgian Dream presidential candidate commented about the UNM decision that the candidate of the UNM is not his competitor. Although most of population agrees with the fact that Margevlashvili will win, there are some critical remarks advising him to be more modest in order not to lose his rating. However, eventually he might still win the elections.

President Mikheil Saakashvili keeps the suspension as usual and does not announce the exact date of Presidential Election. Leader of the Labor Party, Shalva Natelashvili, and former Parliamentary Chairperson, Nino Burjanadze, are known to be running for presidency so far.