On 7 September, the opposition coalition “Power in Unity” nominated Georgia’s former President and current chair of Ukraine’s National Reform Council Mikheil Saakashvili as the candidate for Prime Minister in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The announcement was made by one of the leaders of the United National Movement (UNM) party Grigol Vashadze. He said that everything that has allowed Georgia to cope with the challenges today was created during Saakashvili’s administration. “The flag, coat of arms, anthem, non-corrupt police, army, effective institutions, fourfold economic growth, 11-fold budget growth, security, weakened crime, almost eradicated corruption, these are the achievements of those years. We must understand that we need Mikheil Saakashvili in order to strengthen and make inviolable everything that had been approved by the Georgian citizens from 2003 to 2012,” Vashadze emphasized.
He added that if the citizens of Georgia want the country to develop rapidly, they should vote for all the candidates of the main opposition party of Georgia, be it Mikheil Saakashvili or mayoral candidates. In his words, "the use of Saakashvili's resources is absolutely necessary for the state if the country wants to achieve domestic and foreign policy goals." When asked how the former president is going to return to Georgia, Vashadze answered that he will talk about his plans himself.
However, not all members of the largest opposition bloc were contemptuous with such a decision. “Today's decision confirmed that the UNM wants a pre-2012 situation back,” said Giga Bokeria, one of the leaders of European Georgia. It was also reported that the parties “New Georgia” and “Law and Justice” left the “Power in Unity” bloc.
For reminder, on 27 August, Saakashvili apologized for the mistakes he made during his time in power and announced that he will return to Georgia (Caucasus Watch reported). The ruling Georgian Dream reminded the public that Saakashvili is still wanted under Georgian law and that apologising did not mitigate the crimes he has been convicted of. Georgia’s Vice Prime-Minister and Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani stated that Saakashvili should expect ‘arrest procedures’ upon crossing the Georgian border.
