When you go against the will of your own and opposition-minded voters, it doesn’t matter who the main actor is or who takes on the role that Irakli Kupradze has assumed for himself—I believe he has made a catastrophic mistake.
Levan Sanikidze, one of the leaders of the “National Movement,” commented on the nomination of Irakli Kupradze as the joint candidate for Tbilisi mayor by the parties “Lelo-Strong Georgia” and “Gakharia-For Georgia.”
According to him, Irakli Kupradze’s candidacy now faces a significant challenge.
“No elections are being held on October 4; this is a Russian special operation, and it doesn’t matter who the opposition parties’ candidate would have been. First, as ‘Gorbis’ polls write for Bidzina Ivanishvili, that’s exactly how election results are written. There has never been such vulnerable legislation, and the situation has never been this dire during any previous elections. At the same time, when you go against the will of your own and opposition-minded voters, it doesn’t matter who the main actor is or who takes on the role that Irakli Kupradze has assumed for himself.
His candidacy faces a significant challenge, and I wouldn’t start assessing the fate of a political organization in such distress from the opposition’s side. I believe he has made a catastrophic mistake.
‘Lelo-Strong Georgia’ and ‘Gakharia-For Georgia’ intend to participate in a Russian special operation, the main goal of which is to grant legitimacy to Ivanishvili. Unfortunately, they are playing Ivanishvili’s game.
If there had been a neutral candidate with whom they could have negotiated, I believe such individuals better understand the context that exists in society and the justified anger they would have faced. Therefore, I think people outside the political situation have a better understanding of what awaited their political careers than ‘Lelo’ and ‘Gakharia.’ Ultimately, they ended up with representatives from both parties being nominated,” said Levan Sanikidze.
According to Levan Sanikidze, their main goal now is to ensure that “Bidzina Ivanishvili does not gain legitimacy.”
“Our plan is that on October 4, at 8 p.m., Bidzina Ivanishvili does not gain legitimacy, and these elections are recognized as stolen, so that no state acknowledges the results.
We are protesting the Russian special operation, the main goal of which is to grant legitimacy to Ivanishvili, because what Ivanishvili wants now is to spread his legitimacy both inside and outside the country. We are not interested in the election results or the fate of the other opposition parties, or how much Bidzina Ivanishvili has written on a piece of paper.
Our goal is not to protest the results but to ensure that no final protocol exists,” stated Levan Sanikidze.
Levan Sanikidze: When you go against the will of your own voters and those of the opposition, it doesn’t matter who will be the main executor and who will take on the role that Irakli Kupradze assumed for himself
