Imedi anchor to establish new political party

Giorgi Targamadze, a prominent Imedi TV journalist who left the station over the weekend, announced plans to establish a new political party on January 14.

“This party will consist of my friends and allies who share the same ideas,” Targamadze said on the Rustavi 2 talk show “Primetime.”

While he did not reveal who else would be involved or any specific policies the party would adopt, he said it would be rooted in “Christian Democratic ideology.”

Imedi TV temporarily suspended broadcasts on December 26, its employees citing a desire to “to distance ourselves from dirty political games,” after the government produced tapes it claims show Badri Patarkatsishvili—the station’s founder and co-owner—planning a coup in the run up to the presidential election.

In December, Targamadze denied considering a political career; however after leaving Imedi on January 12 he said reports that he would enter politics were “close to the truth.”

Both Targamadze and opposition figures have dismissed speculation that his new party would be linked to the nine-party opposition coalition, or to Patarkatsishvili, who ran for president in the recent election.

New Rights representative Davit Saganelidze denied his party had entered consultations with Targamadze.

“I have heard reports that Targamadze was set to join our party, but these are incorrect. We have not discussed this,” he said yesterday.

Davit Shukakidze, a representative of Patarkatsishvili’s campaign team, said they do not intend to hold talks with Targamadze, and criticized his decision to enter politics.

“I think he was a very good journalist who did his job well. He was in politics once, and did not find his place there, so I don’t think this is a very smart move on his part,” Shukakidze said.

Despite being a former parliamentary leader for ousted Adjara dictator Aslan Abashidze’s Revival party, Targamadze said he was not technically making a political comeback, as he never espoused his own politics when he worked for Abashidze.

“I see myself as entering politics for the first time now because during the period in my life when I was in politics and entered parliament with Revival, that was not, if you will, my politics,” he said.

On January 15, the former Imedi anchor joined opposition figures at a protest outside the state-owned public broadcaster.

“I stand with the Georgian nation, this is our victory, our people’s victory,” he said after the government acquiesced to opposition demands to reform the broadcaster.