MP Irakli Kadagishvili: Who becomes UNM chairperson depends on Saakashvili’s whims

“The United National Movement is in total crisis, driven not only by a clash of personal ambitions, but one that points to a far deeper underlying issue,” stated MP Irakli Kadagishvili, Chairman of the Self-Government Committee of the Parliament of Georgia.

According to Kadagishvili, decisions within the UNM are being made from the outside.

“Who will serve as party chairperson depends entirely on the whims of Mikheil Saakashvili. All of this indicates that the party lacks the normal capacity to set a positive political agenda or maintain functional internal communication. This whole situation is the result of a policy built over many years on sabotage, which has now turned inward upon the party itself. What they used to do and mete out to Georgia in terms of sabotage, they have today fallen victim to themselves. The number of people voting for the UNM will drop dramatically. Who forged the minutes and who was deliberately left in the dark about the Political Council meeting date shows voters that this party has lost any remaining shred of trust.

The party’s so-called renewal is taking place against the backdrop of a life-or-death struggle. As for which faction tears the other to shreds in this dog-fight, whether that constitutes ‘reform and renewal’ is for the voters to judge. The fact remains: the UNM continues to be one of the country’s chief troublemakers,” Kadagishvili declared.

For context, acting chairperson of the United National Movement, Tina Bokuchava, said that only around 40 out of 130 members attended the party’s Political Council meeting on July 30. She maintained that for a meeting to have the authority to adopt decisions, it must be legitimate.