UNM’s Baramidze: opposition will boycott ‘so-called elections’ to avoid legitimising ‘traitorous regime’

Giorgi Baramidze, political secretary of the United National Movement, on Monday said that his party and other “pro-Western opposition forces” will boycott the upcoming local elections in Georgia, denouncing the vote as a “special operation” designed to legitimise what he called a “Russian criminal traitorous regime.”

Baramidze said the opposition supported democratic elections but refused to participate in a process orchestrated by a government they accuse of falsifying the 2024 parliamentary elections, violating the Constitution, and derailing Georgia’s path toward NATO and EU membership.

“We want elections, but not to participate in a special operation that serves to legitimize traitors,” Baramidze said. “To do so would betray the protest of patriotic citizens who have been demonstrating for more than seven months.”

Baramidze insisted that a “clear distinction must be drawn” between genuine democratic elections and what he described as politically manipulated events staged by the ruling Georgian Dream party. He reaffirmed the opposition’s demand for new parliamentary elections held under international standards.