Ruling party’s election list and assessments

The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party has unveiled its top fifteen of its election list two months prior to the upcoming October 8 parliamentary elections.

The list is composed of new, young faces with mainly foreign education in law and management.

Out of the 15 people, eight are female and the rest male.

Presenting the candidates, Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the people selected for the list would play an important, positive role not only for the party, but for the whole of Georgian politics.

Analysts say the candidates were personally chosen by Kvirikashvili and will play a major role in the upcoming election and the Prime Minister's Cabinet should GDDG be victorious.

Meanwhile, some old faces of the GDDG who have already quit the party say the candidates will not help the party's chances of victory. They also claimed the party lacks clear leadership.

“Without Ivanishvili (Georgia’s ex-Prime Minister and founder of the Georgian Dream coalition) the team will not even pass the election threshold,” Tamaz Metchiauri said.

“This is an imaginary renovation, as the old faces of the party, who would be represented in the list would create obstacles for them,” former GDDG member Armaz Akhvlediani said cryptically.

Analyst Gia Khukhashvili believes the United National Movement (UNM) opposition selected more experienced people for its top ten of the election list, and predicted that the new faces of the GDDG will struggle to debate with them.

The UNM itself is sure that Ivanishvili is still involved with the GDDG despite his half-hearted denials, and believes all key decisions are made by him.

The fact that the GDDG decided to present new people with pro-Western ideas can be a signal of the party’s future intentions.

There was little doubt that the party required a fresh set of characters, as many old faces of the GDDG have angered the public for a variety of misdemeanors and failures.

However, the ruling GD coalition, founded prior to the 2012 parliamentary elections to end the nine-year rule of the UNM and made up of multiple parties, has split for the upcoming elections.

It was stated that the GDDG and Conservative Party will participate in the race together, while the Republicans, Industrials and the National Forum will run alone.