The controversial far-right group Conservative Movement, also known as Alt-Info, has initiated procedures to register a new political party, Conservatives for Georgia, ahead of the country’s local elections in October.
Documents submitted to the National Agency for the Public Registry indicate that one of the movement’s leaders, Giorgi Kardava, has already begun formal registration processes. On February 27, the agency accepted the application and related documents, including records from the party’s congress, for review.
Konstantine Morgoshia, another leader of Alt-Info, told Radio Liberty that the move was driven by pressure from supporters. “We are registering because we do not have a party, and there is a demand from the people that we continue our activities,” he stated.
The announcement comes just days after Alt-Info publicly declared its intent to establish a new party on February 24. Leaders of the movement claimed even their supporters had been unaware of the decision and cited bureaucratic obstacles as the primary reason for adopting a new name rather than re-registering their previous party, the Conservative Movement.
“We took the charter of ruling Georgian Dream—copied it exactly, down to the semicolons—and submitted it to the registry,” Morgoshia said, referring to the ruling party’s documentation. He added that to prevent any issues with document interpretation, the new party’s logo consists of the words Conservatives for Georgia in a circular design, accompanied by two black-and-white crosses.
Alt-Info previously contested elections under the “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia” after the Public Registry deregistered the “Conservative Movement” in April last year. However, the party failed to cross the 5% electoral threshold in the last parliamentary elections, securing just 2.44% (50,599 votes) under a joint conservative list.
Morgoshia confirmed that the group intends to participate in upcoming elections, whether they be local or potential repeat elections. He also stated that Alt-Info would no longer collaborate with the “Alliance of Patriots” and declined to discuss past ties with the party.
Alt-Info has been widely criticized for its homophobic rhetoric and pro-Russian stance.
