Political parties slog toward campaign mode as filing deadline passes

Sixty-two political parties filed with the Central Election Commission by the March 26 deadline to compete in the parliamentary elections

There are less than eight weeks until the May 21 elections, and political parties say they have not begun campaigning.

Even the ruling party, which is rebranding itself as the United National Movement for a Victorious Georgia, has not officially kicked off their campaign. A party spokeswoman said they do not have a campaign headquarters yet. The party list is not ready either, she said, but Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava confirmed yesterday that Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze would top the list.

Among opposition contenders, the moderate Republicans have split from the eight-party opposition coalition to campaign independently, but leading party member Davit Berdzenishvili says they are still preparing their bid.

“We are working on organizational issues at the moment,” he said, but suggested a campaign kickoff could come soon.

The New Rights, which have recently upped their cooperation with opposition coalition, say they are still deliberating on whether to run alone or with other opposition parties. Party member Manana Nachkebia said they will announce their plans next week.

The Labor Party, which briefly called for a boycott of the elections, will also compete. Its representatives castigated other opposition parties for not agreeing to stay out of the elections.

“We were expecting from the so-called opposition parties to declare a united boycott in order to attack Saakashvili’s inhumane regime. As our initiation was ignored, now we call on everyone to vote for the only trustworthy and powerful party, the Labor Party, and its leader, Shalva Natelashvili,” said party member Giorgi Gugava on March 26.

Central Election Commission chief Levan Tarkhnishvili said the commission is verifying the applications, and has so far registered eight parties: Freedom, the National Part of Radical Democrats of All Georgia, Our Country, People’s Party, Georgian Group, Georgian Politics, Movement for a United Georgia and the Union of Georgian Traditionalists.

Parties without seats in parliament will need to submit 30 000 signatures of support by April 1.