Opposition leader Gvaramia accuses UNM, ex-Pres Saakashvili of coordinated campaign against Coalition for Change

Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, accused the United National Movement (UNM) and former President Mikheil Saakashvili of participating in a “coordinated campaign” against his coalition and opposition protests.

Gvaramia alleged that the government-aligned Girchi had received money from Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili to discredit the protests and conduct anti-opposition propaganda, claiming that the campaign also targeted the Coalition for Change and himself personally.

“What is surprising and regrettable is that the UNM, and particularly several of its speakers, has become involved in all of this in a completely non-accidental way,” Gvaramia wrote on social media on Tuesday.

He said he considered the alleged cooperation between the “government-aligned Girchi” and UNM to be “coordinated,” adding that UNM had its own “Iago Khvichias.”

Gvaramia also criticized Saakashvili for what he described as active participation in the campaign, saying the former president was aware of the circumstances surrounding former Prime Minister Nika Gilauri and knew that claims that Gilauri had provided $40 million to the Coalition for Change were false.

He added Saakashvili had previously supported Gilauri’s entry into the political arena and had sent intermediaries to him. Gvaramia said he himself met Gilauri through an initiative involving a member of Saakashvili’s party.

Gvaramia rejected allegations that the coalition depended on Gilauri in order to participate in the elections, saying the coalition would have continued its campaign even if Gilauri had chosen to support the UNM instead.

He acknowledged that Gilauri was a potential political partner and said the cooperation between them was mutually beneficial and openly declared.

“Yes, Gilauri would have been a good prime minister,” Gvaramia wrote.

“Yes, this was mutually beneficial political cooperation and an agreement. And yes, the coalition never concealed it and stated this publicly on numerous occasions,” he added.

Gvaramia said the coalition had spent GEL 10 million during the election campaign, which he said had not been concealed, and rejected claims that Gilauri had provided $40 million, calling the figure “absolute nonsense and a lie.”

He said Gilauri was only one of the coalition’s financiers and “definitely not the only one.”

Gvaramia argued that political parties should operate through openly declared political cooperation and financing rather than through the sale of parliamentary seats or undisclosed financial and political agreements.

“I have no doubt that the campaign against us by government-aligned Girchi and UNM is coordinated,” Gvaramia said, adding that he believed the campaign ultimately benefited only Ivanishvili.

He accused UNM and Saakashvili of knowingly spreading what he described as false information, while saying he did not intend to speculate about their motives.

“I see what they are doing, and I see whose mill this pours water onto - only Ivanishvili’s,” Gvaramia wrote.

He said he had previously refrained from discussing the issue because of his personal principles, but decided to speak publicly after witnessing what he described as a campaign involving “moral degradation” and questionable motives.

“I don’t know whether it was right that I remained silent until now. I don’t know whether my principled silence was worth the astonishment, anxiety and difficult questions from my children about what this 40 million is about,” he wrote.