Girchi Leader Japaridze Urges to Reconsider Approach to October Elections
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Zurab Girchi Japaridze, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change and currently in prison, has questioned the credibility of the upcoming October elections in a letter dated June 12 and published on social media. Writing from his cell, he argues that without a clear and united strategy, participation in the elections would be dishonest and ineffective.
"What happens if the regime does the same thing it did on October 26 and writes numbers, whatever numbers it wants? Until we do not have an agreed answer to this question, we cannot call the people to the elections, because everything we'll say will be a lie and people know it," Japaridze writes.
Referring to the October local elections, he says that refusing to take part in what he considers a false process is a matter of principle. According to him, the regime operates on lies, and refusing to support those lies is the only correct course of action for both citizens and politicians.
Japaridze says the focus should not be on political debate but on working toward ending the current regime. He also criticizes those in the opposition who target Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of Lelo-Strong Georgia, for calling for discussions about the elections.
"Any attempt to insult Mamuka Khazaradze, whether directly or indirectly, by suggesting that there is a chance that Ivanishvili has made peace with him because he is demanding a discussion on the issue of these so-called elections, is counterproductive," he says.
He states that the belief the regime might give up control of major cities is unrealistic.
"The regime will not give up any capital or large cities. This is a fairy tale."
Japaridze also argues that comparisons to past elections in 2003 and 2012 are not useful, noting that those governments were more responsive to Western democratic pressure, unlike the current one.
"There were no Russians in power in either 2003 or 2012. Both governments were sensitive to democratic criticism coming from the West, and none of them were willing to do what this regime is already doing or will do to maintain power."
He ends the letter by calling for joint discussions to agree on a response, and encourages others to act based on what they would do if the elections were scheduled years from now rather than this October.
