UNM lost majority at Sakrebulo
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, July 2
The head of the UNM faction at Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo), Koki Ionatamishvili, quit the party. After Ionatamishvili’s decision the UNM lost its majority.
According to the former member of the UNM, the United National Movement “could not transform” and is unable to get a handle on the problems it faces.
“The United National Movement is no longer a weapon for fighting for a better Georgia,” Ionatamishvili said, adding that after April 19, when the UNM announced the creation of a new National Movement, the situation became worse.
Ionatamishvili claimed that “due to the mistakes made by high-ranking UNM officials, lower lever employees of the Sakrebulo and Tbilisi Mayor’s office are being punished.”
He also stressed that the “actions of current Georgian government can not be justified.”
According to him, instead of searching ways of solving important political, economic or social problems, the coalition is engaged in persecuting former government members.
Members of the UNM and the Georgian Dream assessed the statement made by Ionatamishvili.
Tbilisi Mayor, Gigi Ugulava, stressed that lately his and Ionatamishvili’s positions have differed, despite the fact that Ugulava stated that he took Ionatamishvili’s decision with understanding, saying that his decision “stands far from morality.”
MP, Davit Sakvarelidze and other members of the UNM could see no “tragedy” in the decision of Ionatamishvili. Sakvarelidze emphasized that now many individuals can bear stress and terror.
Georgian Dream member, Giorgi Muskhelihsvili, stated that there was no pressure on Ionatamishvili to make a decision. He announced that very soon some other members of the UNM might quit as well.
Fellow representative of the Georgian Dream, Guliko Zumbadze, stated that it was felt from the statements of Ionatamishvili that he might collaborate with the coalition.
According to the leader of Free Georgia, Kakha Kukava, “several members of the UNM have tried to transform the party and distance themselves from the President and certain former officials. However, they failed to do this. Davit Bakradze, Giorgi Vashadze and others will face the reality very soon,” Kukava said.
Currently none of the political parties has a majority in the Sakrebulo.
