One of the leaders of the United National Movement (UNM) party, Lasha Parulava, says that he disagrees with UNM Chair Tina Bokuchava’s statement today, and believes that the party should launch discussions on the election of individuals for top positions.

As Parulava stated in Resume, a political talk show of Palitra News TV, information about certain changes in the party has been circulating for a long time with different names mentioned.

“It’s been more than a month that specific names are being discussed. Tina also knew, but the reality is that this created confusion. Indeed, there are specific problems. Nanuka’s (Zhorzholiani) platform Majority will join with amazing youngsters, my friend Luka Chokhonelidze and others. This is an asset added to the party amid the situation when the Georgian Dream says it will ban all political parties. We all know very well and do not deceive ourselves: the chairman and prominent leader of the National Movement is Mikheil Saakashvili.

Today, Mikheil Saakashvili explicitly wrote that the election of a chair is significant for democracy, and direct democracy should be activated. Levan Khabeishvili was removed from the party’s chairmanship in a bad way, and I thought Tina Bokuchava would talk about it, but she did not. She mentioned that Mikheil Saakashvili had been in prison for 5 years, and I agree with Saakashvili that the party needs social platforms such as those created by Nanuka Zhorzholiani.

I do not agree with Tina Bokuchava’s statement. The party faces other problems. The terms in office for Tina Bokuchava and other leaders expire. The party should launch discussions over the election of concrete individuals,” he said.

​Jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili wrote in his Facebook post: “In July, the terms of all party officials will expire. We must hold leadership elections in a format that rules out any interference from the regime. My candidate for the chairmanship is Nanuka Zhorzholiani.”

Chair of the United National Movement (UNM) party Tina Bokuchava echoed the ex-president’s post, saying the statement was “unexpected and extremely saddening.” She said: “I believe that such impulsive, inconsistent decisions have led us to where we are.”