27 February 2010, 18:00
Gachechiladze: soon opposition will name their united candidate for Tbilisi Mayor
The united candidate from the opposition to the post of Tbilisi Mayor will be named, most probably, in early March, while now the nomination mechanism is defined. It was stated to journalists by Levan Gachechiladze, one of the leaders of Georgian opposition and the chairman of the public organization "Defend Georgia".
The initiative of Zurab Nogaideli, ex-prime minister and head of the Party "For Fair Georgia", to nominate a united candidate from the opposition to the post of Tbilisi Mayor was initially a bone of discord among the non-parliamentary opposition. Mr Nogaideli stated directly that Georgia should restore its relations with Russia without any preliminary claims for its territorial integrity.
Initially, Irakliy Alasaniya, another leaders of the opposition, flatly refused talking with Nogaideli calling him a Russia's protege; but later he took his words back, and in the Chess Palace took the conditions of that part of the opposition, which put forward the slogan "Everyone minus Saakashvili". Mr Alasaniya said that had accepted the offer to nominate a united candidate, provided that Zurab Nogaideli would not be the main organizer of the nomination process.
Author: Tamaz Imnaishvili Source: CK correspondent