Mixed reactions in Georgia to the leadership change in the leading opposition party National Movement
Nika Melia on political corruption in the UNM
Levan Khabeishvili is stepping down as the chairman of Georgia’s leading opposition party, the United National Movement (founded by imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili). He will be replaced by Tina Bokuchava, a member of parliament from the party.
At a special briefing on June 9, Khabeishvili announced that he made this decision due to deteriorating health after being brutally beaten by special forces during a mass protest in Tbilisi against the “foreign agents” law on May 1.
“Doctors have effectively prohibited me from working regularly for two to three months. With only four months left until the elections, the party cannot afford to have a non-functional chairman who isn’t working around the clock. Our team made this decision after consulting with Tina (Bokuchava),” said Khabeishvili.
Levan Khabeishvili will become the chairman of the political council, while Levan Bezhashvili will replace Tina Bokuchava as the chairman of the United National Movement’s parliamentary faction.
At the same briefing, Tina Bokuchava stated that “the main task before the October elections is to unite the entire opposition.”
“I am deeply convinced that we must ensure that Ivanishvili [the oligarch and honorary chairman of the ruling party] is left alone, and all other political forces or politicians who oppose the Russification of Georgia must unite. This is necessary to win. We must unite for the sake of our country and its European future,” said Bokuchava.
At the end of January 2023, the United National Movement held internal party elections using blockchain technology. Levan Khabeishvili received 52.58% of the vote, or 21,656 votes. The party’s then-chairman, Nika Melia, came in second with 40%.
Before the election, Melia claimed that former influential ministers during Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency, Vano Merabishvili and David Kezerashvili, continued to control the party and had orchestrated the election results in which he lost.
He described the situation in Georgian politics as absurd, where the country’s fate is determined by two competing parties—the Georgian Dream and the United National Movement—both controlled by individuals who operate from the shadows and officially hold no responsibility.
Bidzina Ivanishvili is considered the shadow leader of Georgia, while David Kezerashvili is in exile and officially does not participate in the country’s internal political processes.
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Saakashvili and Melia have opposing views on the leadership change in the leading opposition party
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili welcomed Levan Khabeishvili’s decision to step down, calling it a “sign of constant renewal and strength of the National Movement.”
Saakashvili also supported the election of Tina Bokuchava as the new party chair.
Like Bokuchava, Saakashvili stated that “the opposition must unite, and the United National Movement will do everything possible to achieve this.“
“The National Movement will be completely reorganized and will present new faces and new ideas based on the traditions of building a successful state and the process of constant renewal,” Saakashvili wrote on social media.
In contrast, Nika Melia, the former chairman of the National Movement and now one of the leaders of the “Ahali” party, gave a wholly negative assessment of the events.
The “Ahali” party was founded in early 2024 by Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia, who were long-time close associates and trusted confidants of Mikheil Saakashvili.
Melia called the leadership change in the party “a Russian style of governance involving political corruption and turning politics into a business company where managers are appointed and then reappointed.”
“Informal governance cannot be defeated by other informal governance. The Russian regime cannot be defeated by Russian methods. An oligarch cannot be defeated with money,” Melia wrote on his Facebook page.
