Georgian MP Macharashvili alleges investigative commission’s findings could lead to opposition UNM dissolution

Guram Macharashvili, leader of the People’s Power party, a splinter group from the ruling Georgian Dream, and a member of parliament, said that the findings of a parliamentary investigative commission could pave the way for the formal dissolution of the opposition United National Movement (UNM).

“In six months, we produced a conclusion that I am sure will serve as the basis for the relevant agency to abolish the UNM. Against this background, stripping them of their election numbers will not be painful or damaging for them,” Macharashvili stated.

He argued that the fact that only half of the UNM’s local branches are participating in the October 4 municipal elections shows they have accepted that “they have no place on the political field.”

The remarks come ahead of Georgia’s 2025 local self-government elections, in which 17 political parties will participate. Five parties will keep the same numbers they used in the last parliamentary elections, while the UNM and the Akhali (New) party were left without official ballot numbers after failing to register within the legal timeframe. Those numbers have since been assigned to other parties by lot.

The investigative commission — established by the ruling Georgian Dream majority — was probing alleged abuses by former officials from 2003 to 2012.