Opera star is staying in politics

Georgia’s opera star and founder of the opposition party, State for People, Paata Burchuladze, has announced that he will stay in politics after the election bloc headed by him failed to overcome the five percent election threshold in the October 8 parliamentary elections.

Burchuladze said he planned to host a party gathering in the near future and the public will also be informed whether the election bloc created for the elections under Burchuladze will continue its joint activities or split.

“I am happy that I opened the way for talented young people to enter politics. I am going to stay and continue to fight in future elections,” Burchuladze said.

Burchuladze’s bloc received 3.45% of votes and failed to gain any seat in the 150-member Parliament.

Burchuladze terminated his musical career and announced he was entering politics in May 2016, subsequently forming the State for People party.

In August 2016, the Paata Burchuladze - State for People political bloc was established, which initially united four parties:

State for People – established by Burchuladze

Girchi – a political party created by ex-members of United National Movement (UNM)

New Georgia – a party founded by ex-UNM member Giorgi Vashadze

New Rights – a non-Parliamentary opposition.

However, several days before the October 8 Parliamentary Elections, Girchi said Burchuladze blackmailed them and demanded money from the party for his "personal use.”

Burchuladze responded and said he "dismissed” Girchi from the coalition when he found out the party was financed by Georgia’s ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

When Burchuladze entered politics, there were high expectations to him, as he was famous for his philanthropic activities and enjoyed respect.

However, gradually Burchuladze lost support due to his public statements and behavior, which suggested that he was unsuited for political life.

Surprisingly, Georgians, who still vote for leaders and philanthropists, refused to support Burchuladze.

Burchuladze was defeated when he had a big chance to achieve success.

Now that he has failed at the very first stage, it will be harder for him to regain the public's trust and achieve success in future races.