Gigi Ugulava, former Tbilisi mayor and now opposition politician, said that Nika Gvaramia, Director General of Mtavari Arkhi, was the primary engine of the United National Movement (UNM) party at all times even when jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili was not in Georgia.

During a TV Pirveli interview, Gigi Ugulava was queried about the potential negative effects of Nika Gvaramia’s involvement in the upcoming election on the UNM party, including the potential loss of voters.

Gigi Ugulava answered that the majority of those who would vote for Nika Melia (former UNM Chair) or Nika Gvaramia were supporters of the UNM during the last elections.

“I think it is a problem for the UNM. Let us be sincere. Even though Nika Gvaramia was not in politics, since 2012, the party’s been in the opposition. He has been the primary engine of the UNM even when jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili was not in Georgia. Nika Melia was the elected chair for five years, and some successful candidates for the post of Tbilisi Mayor quit the party. It is not a challenge but a problem for the UNM,” he said.

According to Gigi Ugulava, Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia, both with the same first name and Megrelian surname, are likely to establish their parties.

“Again, I have a feeling that in the end, unless one side or the other drowns in the river when it flows into the sea – and that sea is sure to be big and stormy – we will all end up together. But everyone must reach this sea, must come with their voters, with their team and must not drown.

I think they will have an even bigger problem because the National Movement is a big party. The UNM has the ability to revive. The UNM ultimately has the advantage that people who see that their votes are lost and don’t want their votes to be indirectly lost to the Georgian Dream will vote for the big parties. This is what happens in every election,” said Gigi Ugulava.