Khoshtaria Says She Will End Hunger Strike if Opposition Boycotts Elections
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, June 30, 2025
Elene Khoshtaria, a leader of the opposition bloc "Coalition for Change," has announced she will end her hunger strike if opposition parties agree not to participate in the upcoming local elections.
Khoshtaria made the statement when asked whether she would stop her hunger strike if the opposition formally declared a boycott. "Yes," she said. "If that clarity is established. I'm not saying that the clarity has to be exactly as I put it - with precise points and exactly what kind of struggle it should be. I am simply sharing with the public my vision of how we should fight."
She emphasized that while the details of the strategy could be negotiated, the core principle must be unity around "zero cooperation, non-acceptance, and non-recognition" of the ruling regime.
"If we all agree on this vision collectively, even with adjustments to the form - it shouldn't just follow my way - but if we fundamentally agree, then of course I will put all my energy into the fight I believe in," Khoshtaria said.
Tina Bokuchava, chairperson of the United National Movement, expressed full support for Khoshtaria's position in a statement. She wrote that Khoshtaria's hunger strike highlights the need for a united stance against what she described as a "special operation disguised as local elections."
"It should not be necessary to put a human life on the line for all democratic forces to realize that any form of compromise with the regime is disastrous," Bokuchava wrote. "But I thank her for this self-sacrifice."
Bokuchava said she learned of Khoshtaria's decision to begin the hunger strike while returning from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), where she had been advocating for the release of political prisoners.
She reiterated the United National Movement's position that the local elections cannot be held separately under the current political conditions. "Local self-government elections can only be held together with parliamentary elections, under conditions that ensure fair rules of the game."
Bokuchava concluded her statement with words of solidarity: "Solidarity with Elene. Freedom to the regime's prisoners."
