Mamuka Khazaradze Announces Lelo Party's Establishment of Strategic Partnership with Nika Melia
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, December 29, 2023
Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the Lelo party, has stated that the party is prepared to establish a strategic partnership with Nika Melia and is ready to 'fight' alongside him. According to Khazaradze, Melia is committed to ending the era of a 'single-ruled, oligarchic, stolen state' in the country.
As stated by Khazaradze on the 'Palitranews' program, the goal is for the Georgian people to unequivocally reject old politics and politicians once and for all.
"With Nika Melia, we have the comfort of fighting together. Why? Because Nika Melia is fighting to end the era of a single-ruled, oligarchic, and stolen state in this country. This is the 'middle,' no matter what name we call it. The task is for the Georgian people to reject old politics once and for all. It may be an old policy, but it should not be discarded. We have dirty politics and politicians, including some old ones too.
By 'old politics' I mean that this country has been ruled by one party for 30 years, under different names but with the same vertical structure. As long as this vertical structure remains unbroken, the democratic institutions in this country cannot be freed from the pressure that the Georgian Dream exerted, just as the National Movement did during the previous government. Therefore, strategic partnership signifies maintaining this status quo," Khazaradze said.
When asked if Nika Melia will be on Lelo's list, Khazaradze responded that Lelo will establish a strategic partnership with Melia. He also mentioned that there is a possibility of uniting with Nika Melia's party before the elections and presenting it under a new name.
"As far as I know, Nika Melia is founding his own party, and I want to wish him success. It will be a single strategic partnership where we will agree on basic and important issues for the country. The opposition voter will see that there are two parties - Nika Melia's party and 'Lelo' on the other side - agreeing on the management of the country and the composition of the government. Subsequently, a decision will be made on whether Nika Melia and 'Lelo' will participate in the elections separately or not. If we find that forming a union is necessary and contemplate a new name, that's a theoretical aspect for now, but discussing it today... I want to emphasize that our visions do align.
We aim for the end of this type of government in our country, aspiring for integration into European structures. This necessitates a new government, reforms, fresh ideas, and new individuals. It is premature to delve into details today, but we will affirm our sympathies and partnerships in due course," Khazardze said.
