Levan Khabeishvili

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Levan Khabeishvili (right) announcing that he was stepping down as the United National Movement’s chair in favour of Tina Bokuchava (left). Screengrab from the party’s briefing.

Ahali

UNM to appoint new party chair

by OC Media

•2 min read

Levan Khabeishvili is stepping down as the chair of the United National Movement (UNM), Georgia’s largest opposition party, with Tina Bokuchava set to take over as leader. Speaking at a briefing on Saturday, Khabeishvili said that he had decided to leave the post in relation to his health, stating that his doctors had ‘strictly recommended’ that he not work as intensely for the next two or three months. Bokuchava will be the first woman to chair the party. Khabeishvili announced that

Nika Melia. Image: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Georgia

Former Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia to form new party

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

The former chair of the United National Movement (UNM) has announced he is leaving to found his own party, following months of speculation and internal conflict within Georgia’s largest opposition party. At a briefing on Thursday evening, Nika Melia said the UNM had made ‘informal management and behind-the-scenes influences’ its political standard, and accused the party of being politically corrupt. He added that the party was in the habit of ‘persecuting dissent’ and ‘closing the door to de

The United National Movement’s headquarters in Batumi. OC Media.

Georgia

Dozens of UNM council members leave party in opposition to current chair

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

Around 60 United National Movement (UNM) regional councillors and senior members have formally left Georgia’s largest opposition group, with some saying that they would join the party’s former chair, Nika Melia, if he launched his own party. Several city councillors and members of the UNM in Khobi, Batumi, Zugdidi, and Chiatura have left the party this week as tensions between Melia and Levan Khabeishvili, the current chair of the party, come to a head. On Wednesday, 10 out of 11 UNM Khobi C

United National Movement Chair Levan Khabeishvili. Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Georgia

Former UNM chair Nika Melia ‘no longer’ a member of the party

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•1 min read

The United National Movement’s Chair, Levan Khabeishvili, has said that the party’s former leader, Nika Melia, is ‘not a member’ of the party anymore. In an interview with Formula on Sunday, Khabeishvili appeared to dodge questions about Melia’s current status within the party. Speculation about whether Melia was still a member of the UNM peaked after he and several key supporters within the party refused to sign a ‘manifesto of unity’ last week. Khabeishvili and other party leaders warned

Anri Okhanashvili striking Levan Khabeishvili.

Freedom of the Press

Georgian opposition leader ejected from foreign agent hearing after being attacked by committee chair

by Shota Kincha

•5 min read

The leader of the opposition United National Movement party (UNM) has been ejected from the Legal Affairs Committee hearing on the draft foreign agent law, after being attacked by the committee’s chair. Georgian Dream MP Anri Okhanashvili slapped Levan Khabeishvili in the face but was allowed to continue to oversee Monday’s hearing, while Khabeishvili was dragged away by parliamentary security. Khabeishvili, the newly elected chair of Georgia’s largest opposition party, approached Okhanashvi

A pro-Mikheil Saakashvili rally led by United National Movement Chair Levan Khabeishvili. Shota Kincha/ OC Media.

Armenia

Podcast | The UNM’s political stunt and mounting tensions between Baku and Tehran

by OC Media

•1 min read

Mariam Nikuradze talks about Levan Khabeishvili’s election as the United National Movement’s chair and recent statements about pulling the party out of the parliament in exchange for Mikheil Saakashvili’s release from prison. Read more: * New UNM leader vows party will leave parliament if Saakashvili is freed Ismi Aghayev discusses the fatal 27 January attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran and its effects on the already strained Baku–Tehran relations. Read mor

Georgia

New UNM leader vows party will leave parliament if Saakashvili is freed

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

The new chair of the United National Movement (UNM), Georgia’s largest opposition party, announced on Tuesday that his party was ready to leave parliament and city councils in exchange for the release of imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Levan Khabeishvili became party chair on 30 January, having campaigned on the promise to free the party’s founder and former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili. He defeated Nika Melia, the party’s previous chair, who was seen as having mad