For Georgia Party Ends Boycott, Takes Seats in Disputed Parliament
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Eleven members of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia's opposition For Georgia party took their seats in Georgia's disputed Parliament on October 28, ending a yearlong boycott of the legislature dominated by the ruling Georgian Dream. The move comes after most opposition parties rejected the results of the contested October 26, 2024, general elections.
Party member Giorgi Sharashidze announced on October 20 that the group would enter Parliament, saying the decision was made to "fight for the survival of free thought" and to "bring another truth in this country to light."
The move followed Georgian Dream lawmakers' September decision to approve mandates for twelve new For Georgia MPs, two months after the mandates of the party's original twelve candidates were terminated due to prolonged absences during the boycott. Other opposition groups had already renounced their seats.
The eleven MPs now representing For Georgia are Gela Abuladze, Jemal Ananidze, Ketevan Bakaradze, Malkhaz Toria, Shalva Kereselidze, Salome Kobaladze, Giga Parulava, Vika Pilpani, Giorgi Sharashidze, Tamar Khvedeliani, and Sopio Khorguani.
One more candidate, Rusudan Tevzadze, announced days earlier that she was giving up her seat and leaving the party altogether. She cited "extremely difficult domestic and foreign challenges" and called her move a "difficult but morally correct decision." Several members had already resigned in September after Gakharia suggested the boycott had been a "mistake."
At the opening of the October 28 plenary session, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili welcomed the party's decision. "It is welcoming that one political group, one party, has recognized the will of the people, acknowledged democracy, and begun to exercise its parliamentary mandates," he said. "Unfortunately, some opposition parties have burned their bridges and deprived both themselves and, above all, their voters of the opportunity for their voices to be heard in the Parliament of Georgia."
In his first address to the legislature, Sharashidze said the party's participation was "out of respect for the Georgian people and in recognition of the reality that we failed to offer them a better alternative."
"We are now ready to accept this challenge and bring back the people's voice and differing opinions to Parliament, which, above all, belongs solely to the Georgian people," he added. "The truth is bitter. You will have to hear this truth from us in Parliament. You will have to accept that from today, this will no longer be your party's office, and you will first and foremost have to hear differing opinions and the voice of the Georgian people from us."
For Georgia was the only opposition party among the four that passed the 5 percent threshold in the 2024 parliamentary elections that did not formally renounce its mandates, leaving open the possibility of entering Parliament.
Party leader Giorgi Gakharia remains in exile while facing two investigations related to his 2019 tenure as interior minister.
Unlike other opposition forces, For Georgia also took part in the October 4 local elections in cooperation with the Lelo-Strong Georgia alliance, which continues to boycott Parliament after Georgian Dream terminated its lawmakers' mandates.
