Is Saakashvili's party collapsing? More members have left the National Movement
Saakashvili’s party collapsing
Seven out of the 13 members of the Georgian opposition party National Movement in the Batumi City Council have resigned from the party. Additional members, including Giorgi Kirtadze, a former mayoral candidate in 2021, and Mirdat Kamadadze, a leader in the regional organization, have also left.
Kirtadze cited fundamental disagreements with party chairman Levan Khabeishvili and the new party leadership as the reasons for his departure.
“All avenues of unity have been exhausted,” Kirtadze stated at a specially organized briefing.
“Having been part of this party for half our lives, it wasn’t an easy decision for us to make the change. But it couldn’t continue like this. We are leaving the party while remaining faithful to the ideals of the Rose Revolution. Our commitment to fighting against the oligarchic regime persists. The members of the National Movement who have left the party now find themselves on the front lines of the struggle,” said Kirtadze, a member of the Supreme Council of Adjara.
What’s unfolding within the National Movement?
The National Movement, established by the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, governed the country from 2004 to 2012. After losing to the Georgian Dream party in the 2012 parliamentary elections, it has functioned as the country’s primary opposition party.
In the most recent parliamentary elections in 2020, the National Movement joined forces with other smaller opposition parties, forming an electoral bloc that garnered 27.13% of the votes, exceeding half a million.
Currently, according to various sociological studies, the party holds a rating ranging from 13 to 21 percent.
The founder of the National Movement, Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been incarcerated since October 2021, hasn’t held an official position in the party for many years, yet he remains its principal figure.
Upon joining the opposition, a gradual process of disintegration within the National Movement commenced. Leaders and regular members departed from the party at various intervals.
Presently, the primary core of the four parties in the opposition political landscape consists of former National Movement members and individuals who left the party at different points in time.
The recent intense discord within the party has been unfolding since the start of 2023, with two party leaders, Levan Khabeishvili and Nika Melia, facing off.
On January 30, 2023, the National Movement conducted internal party elections to choose a new chairman. Levan Khabeishvili emerged victorious with 52.58 percent of the votes, while former party chairman Nika Melia secured the second position.
Despite the defeat, Melia opted not to leave the party and congratulated Khabeishvili on his victory. However, the rivalry between these two leaders persisted and intensified in the subsequent months, leading to a clear division within the party – one supporting Melia and the other supporting Khabeishvili.
Mikheil Saakashvili has not publicly declared his allegiance. Nevertheless, Nika Melia’s team alleges that the elections were manipulated by two party members: former defense minister David Kezerashvili and former Interior minister Vano Merabishvili.
David Kezerashvili, the primary financier of the National Movement, currently resides abroad due to several criminal cases opened against him by the current government.
Supporters of Melia assert that Kezerashvili, rather than backing the assertive Melia, placed his trust in Khabeishvili, considering him more dependable and a superior manager.
Despite their disagreements, both factions acknowledge the influence of Mikheil Saakashvili and view his imprisonment as unjust.
Despite remaining a party member after the internal elections, Nika Melia rarely attended party events. Notably, he was absent from the event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Rose Revolution and did not endorse the National Movement’s 11-point manifesto outlining the party’s principles, political vision, and ideology.
On November 27, 2023, during a live broadcast on the Formula TV channel, Levan Khabeishvili declared that Melia was no longer a party member. This statement sparked discontent among Melia’s supporters within the National Movement.
“Further disintegration is inevitable”
Political analysts observe that the disintegration of the Batumi organization accelerated following Melia’s official expulsion from the party. They predict a future rupture within both the central and regional organizations of the National Movement.
Elguja Bagrationi, a member of the Supreme Council of Adjara from the United National Movement, remarked that “these individuals have been outside the party for eight to nine months, and during this time, they have tried their best to harm the party. They made this decision several months ago and only formalized it today.”
Party member Ana Tsitlidze downplayed the situation, stating that nothing extraordinary occurred. With 11 years of experience, she emphasized that the National Movement is a living organisation: “people leave, but many new people join.”
