UNM signs EU-mediated agreement after four-month standoff

The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has decided to sign the EU-mediated April 2021 agreement after a more than four month abstainmant. 

 

The party, which is cited as a major opposition in the country, has taken the step after the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) withdrew from the agreement back in July 2021 ‘because the UNM refused to join the agreement and other opposition parties did not fulfil its conditions.’ 

 

The EU-mediated agreement was proposed by the European Council President Charles Michel to help the Georgian political parties resolve a six-month political crisis in the country which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections. 

 

Most of the opposition parties refused to take up their mandates in the state legislature after the elections and were demanding a repeat race. 

 

The EU-mediated agreement, which was signed by the ruling party and majority of opposition parties, obliged the signatories to ensure the conduct of large electoral and court reforms.. 

 

Per the agreement the ruling party also accepted the conduct of repeat parliamentary elections if they received less than 43 percent of votes in the upcoming municipal elections. 

 

The UNM refused to join the agreement because it desliken a note on the amnesty of convicts of June 2019 protests in Tbilisi. 

 

The UNM was against the release of the riot policemen who abused authority during the rally dispersal in central Tbilisi on June 19 which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament.  

 

Now the UNM says that there is a ‘critical situation’ in the country and the ‘GD governance must end.’ 

 

The party hopes that the GD will have to accept the conduct of repeat elections if they receive 43 percent of votes in the October 2 municipal elections. 

 

The GD says that the UNM and other opposition parties have ‘zero chances to win the elections’ and that the UNM’s recent decision to sign the EU-mediated agreement is ‘funny.’