Proportional list leaders leave opposition Gakharia-For Georgia party on local elections day, citing party leadership’s endorsement of violence

Sofiko Nikatsadze, the first candidate on the proportional list of the “Gakharia–For Georgia” party in Ninotsminda Municipal Council, together with her fellow team members Artur Tonakanyan, Nikolai Sukharukov, and Vladislav Ananikyan - who hold the second, third, and fourth positions on the list - have announced their departure from the party.

“We join the members of the [opposition] Lelo party who had the courage to leave their party because its leaders support violence. We are leaving Gakharia’s party, whose leadership, despite speaking differently, is involved in violent plans and sees no other alternative”, the statement said.

Local self-government elections are currently taking place in Georgia. Citizens are electing representatives for a four-year term to the municipal representative bodies - the Sakrebulo - as well as the mayor of the self-governing city or community.
Sakrebulo elections are conducted based on both majoritarian and proportional electoral systems.

Georgian citizens will elect 2,058 members to 64 Sakrebulos, through both proportional and majoritarian systems, along with 64 mayors.