Lelo Calls for Political Talks With Georgian Dream to Resolve Crisis
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
The opposition party Lelo for Georgia, part of the Strong Georgia opposition coalition, has called for what it described as "responsible political negotiations" with the ruling Georgian Dream to address the country's ongoing political crisis.
In a statement released on March 15, the party said talks should involve the opposition forces that it said received the support of the majority of voters in the 2024 parliamentary elections. The comment appeared to refer to the four opposition parties and coalitions that passed the five percent electoral threshold.
According to the party, a broad political dialogue is necessary to restore stability and democratic legitimacy. It said the crisis could be resolved through an agreement on "new, free and fair parliamentary elections" and the release of what it called political prisoners.
"Georgia today needs political stability, national consolidation, and a political system with strong democratic legitimacy," the party said. It added that a wide dialogue is needed to ease the country's internal tensions and involve representatives of what it described as an extremely polarized society.
Lelo also warned that Georgia's domestic political crisis is unfolding during what it called an extremely difficult geopolitical environment. The party said the situation weakens the country's ability to respond to external threats.
"Georgia's security, stability, and development are impossible without strong international support and close cooperation with Western partners," the statement said. "Georgia cannot emerge from this international isolation without a significant reset of the political process."
The proposal appears unlikely to gain support from either side of the political divide.
A broader opposition alliance of nine parties, which does not include Lelo, has rejected cooperation with the ruling party and maintains a strategy of non-recognition and non-cooperation with Georgian Dream.
Responding to the initiative, Tamar Chergoleishvili, leader of the Federalists Party (Georgia) and a member of the opposition alliance, said negotiations with the government may eventually happen, but only over a transfer of power.
"Negotiations with the regime will inevitably begin, but they will begin on the transfer of power and not on the survival of the regime," she said. "Lelo will definitely not be the initiator of this dialogue. The initiator of this dialogue will be the Georgian people."
The ruling party also dismissed the proposal. Shalva Papuashvili, speaker of Georgia's disputed parliament, said Georgian Dream has no interest in talks with the opposition.
"We have nothing to talk about with them," Papuashvili told journalists on March 16. "Let them talk to the Constitutional Court, and let some of their members talk to the criminal court, where cases related to them are pending."
The initiative comes as tensions deepen between Lelo and other opposition parties. The rift widened after the party decided to participate in the October 2025 municipal elections despite a wider opposition boycott. It also chose not to join a nine-party alliance formed on March 2.
Along with the United National Movement, the Coalition for Change (Georgia), and the party For Georgia, founded by former PM Giorgi Gakharia, Lelo was among the four opposition groups that received enough support in the 2024 parliamentary elections to enter parliament. All four rejected their seats, alleging widespread vote fraud.
While the United National Movement and the Coalition for Change joined the nine-party opposition alliance, Lelo and For Georgia remain outside it.
Lelo leaders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze were released from prison in September 2025 after serving several months for refusing to appear before a parliamentary commission known as the Tsulukiani Commission. They were later pardoned by Mikheil Kavelashvili, the Georgian Dream elected president, shortly before the party decided to take part in the October 4 municipal elections.
Lelo is also among the opposition parties that could face a ban under an appeal filed by Georgian Dream to the Constitutional Court.
