Olympic champions featured in ruling party election list draw criticism

Opposition MP Roman Gotsiridze has criticized ruling Georgian Dream (GD) for including Olympic champions Lasha Talakhadze and Geno Petriashvili in its 2024 election list.

In an interview with Front News, Gotsiridze argued that the ruling party is attempting to “beautify” its image by including respected public figures like Olympic heroes while keeping the same controversial political faces.

“It’s unfortunate that our Olympic champions have been demoted to the status of button-pushers in Parliament. This is an act of exploitation against them,” the MP remarked. He also dismissed GD founder and Chair Bidzina Ivanishvili’s position as the top candidate on the list as purely symbolic, suggesting that his presence is fictitious.

On Tuesday GD announced its election list, naming Georgian weightlifting champion Lasha Talakhadze and wrestler Geno Petriashvili among candidates. Bidzina Ivanishvili was listed as the party’s number one candidate, followed by current the PM Irakli Kobakhidze and ex-PM Irakli Garibashvili as the second and third on the list.