On 19 September, the Tbilisi City Court fined the Georgian opposition party “Alliance of Patriots” 2,000 lari for violating the election code. The verdict came after the party released six election videos and related Facebook ads in order to trigger hostility among Georgian citizens towards Turkey. The ads also contained signs of religious and ethnic hatred. It is also noteworthy that the Georgian State Audit Office is still investigating the legality of the funding of the party after a Dossier Center publication revealed that the Alliance received $8 million from Russia (Caucasus Watch reported).
Meanwhile, on the other spectrum of Georgia’s political opposition scene, cleavages still persist amongst the united opposition, following the latest statements of the “Strength in Unity” Prime Minister candidate Mikheil Saakashvili. Namely, Saakashvili stated that the United National Movement (UNM) will win the elections with a vast majority and there will be no need for the party to cooperate with other opposition groups to form a government. This triggered outrage amongst the representatives of other opposition parties. “Saakashvili’s every statement and action benefits the ruling party,” stated one of the leaders of “European Georgia” Giga Bokeria. The leader of “Strategy Agmashenebeli” Giorgi Vashadze, a former UNM official, stated that Saakashvili and the UNM discouraged the opposition’s alliance in the elections.
The opposition-minded Georgian TV channel Mtavari Arkhi released their election polls which were conducted by the international Ipsos company based in France. According to the polls, the GD would receive 25% of the votes, the UNM 15.5%, “European Georgia” 5%, “Strategy Agmashenebeli” 3%, Labour Party 3% and the “Alliance of Patriots” also 3% in the upcoming elections.
