Ex-president Saakashvili wishes his release from prison before run-offs

Ex-president of Georgia and a founder of the United National Movement (UNM), the largest opposition party in Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, wishes for his release from prison before the municipal election run-offs scheduled on October 30^th.

 

He also says that he has no plans to stop the hunger strike he began on October 1, the day he was detained in Tbilisi after eight years in political exile.

 

Saakashvili urged people to join the UNM opposition rally in Tbilisi on October 14 and vowed when released he will prevent the ruling Georgian Dream party from rigging elections with methods such as vote buying and voter intimidation.

 

He claims he and the UNM will ‘defend votes’ both in Tbilisi and regions.

 

The election runoffs will take place only in 20 of 64 majoritarian and mayoral constituencies, while the ruling party and the UNM candidates will compete in 17 of the 20 constituencies.

 

In the proportional part of the municipal race the UNM came second after the ruling party with 30.7 percent of the vote.

 

Saakashvili was detained in Tbilisi on October 1, the day before the municipal elections in Georgia.

 

He left Georgia in 2013, shortly after the Georgian Dream coalition defeated his United National Movement in the 2012 parliamentary race.

 

Saakashvili claimed he returned after eight years in political exile to mobilize his supporters and ‘save the country from the regime of the Georgian Dream’. 

 

Saakashvili was convicted for abuse of authority back in 2018 and sentenced to six years in prison. He has also been charged with four other cases, which are ongoing.