UNM opposition chair ready to run for the post “anytime”

Nika Melia, the head of the United National Movement opposition party – the main opposition group in the country, said Wednesday that he was ready for a new race for the post, following a sudden briefing by several members of the party the same day, requesting new elections for the party leadership “to further strengthen it”. 

In his media conference the same evening Melia admitted that his colleagues’ move was “unexpected” amid ongoing consultations inside the party over the elections, noting that “time will show what was the genuine reason and the purpose” of holding the briefing. 

Melia said that when the elections were scheduled, he would tell the party supporters “the truth” so that they were able to make a “thoughtful and future-oriented choice” for the party and the country.

Melia took the post in the winter of 2020. 

The reports over his quitting the post have been made following an alleged clash between him and the party activists in September in the party office, reportedly about a topic related to the currently imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili.