“Political Council Chairman Levan Khabeishvili is not a minor factor for the party. Mikheil Saakashvili has a different significance within the party. Khabeishvili is also very important and should not be dismissed lightly. Therefore, if the Political Council nominates its own candidate, the election will not be an easy one,” journalist Nanuka Zhorzholiani said on PalitraNews’ program Political Space.

According to her, “it is not accurate to say that Levan was pushed out at the time, but what happened was wrong.”

“If Khabeishvili decides to nominate a candidate, who will that candidate be? What if Khabeishvili says from prison, ‘I am the candidate’ - imprisoned Khabeishvili? That could happen, couldn’t it? Will they run against Khabeishvili? He is a prisoner who was treated unfairly,” Zhorzholiani said.

Zhorzholiani also spoke about politicians who left the United National Movement, particularly Nika Melia, emphasizing that he “acted incorrectly.”

“Party members greatly appreciate the sacrifice Mikheil made by returning to Georgia, getting arrested, and spending five years in prison. But Khabeishvili, despite everything that happened around him, did not leave the party, did not insult Mikheil, and people value that loyalty. He was beaten and imprisoned. Melia, on the other hand, acted wrongly when he left the party and turned against Mikheil, both morally and personally. Then he went on to split the party. Let’s agree that when you are insulting the party leader, you should leave.

In this country, it does not matter whether you are a UNM supporter, a Georgian Dream supporter, a Labour Party supporter, or anyone else - nobody likes a traitor. When you leave someone who was your leader and start insulting them, people do not like that. If anyone managed to preserve their image, even Irakli Gharibashvili did so in relation to Bidzina Ivanishvili. Gakharia knows this well too. Even though, according to my information, he did not give the order on June 20, he does not pursue that line because Georgians do not like traitors. Back then, Anzor Chubinidze was very visible with his pointing finger; numerous videos showed him indicating which people should be targeted and shot,” Zhorzholiani said.

She also stressed that she is not entering the party as a political leader.

“I am not entering the party as a political leader. The political leader is Mikheil Saakashvili, and he should also be the candidate for prime minister. If political figures had been leading the opposition all this time, what results have they achieved? What percentage of support do they have, and how have they harmed Ivanishvili?

If Bidzina Ivanishvili is still in power today, it is only because the public does not see an effective alternative. People in the regions do not see opposition politicians among them; they only see them talking in television studios and fighting among themselves - ‘you called me stupid, you called me an idiot.’ That is not attractive.

The fact is that standard approaches have not worked. People who fight Mikheil more than they fight Bidzina come out and criticize Mikheil’s decisions.

The party needs reforms. The voice of youth must be strong and loud. The United National Movement has severed more ties with young people than anyone else. The party has become focused on a specific age demographic, and they know this well,” Zhorzholiani noted.

According to her, if she becomes chairperson of the United National Movement, she will raise the issue of leaving the opposition alliance.

“If I become chairperson, I will raise the issue of leaving the alliance. Mikheil and others believed that the number 5 (the UNM electoral number) should not have been the reason why a coalition could not be fully formed.

Khabeishvili was accused of being an agent. Tamar Chergoleishvili said that the organizers of October 4 were acting in coordination, that they were serving Ivanishvili’s interests, and that they were ‘useful idiots’ - this about people who sacrificed themselves for the process and went to prison. Then she later said she would not testify as a witness, despite the fact that in Bacho Akhalaia’s case the only witness testimony is hers.

Chergoleishvili says she is a politician and an educated person, so she should behave like a politician. When she calls me a ‘bean pie’ (lobiana), is that what she learned through her education? Is this what she boasts about? Is that politics?

As for Gilauri, he was with us in this struggle and then slipped away through the back door. He did not even check on his employees after searches were conducted. He washed his hands of the matter and left. The fact is that he was not in this process for the common struggle and victory; he was involved in a mini-special operation. As the head of the fund, Nika Gilauri fled in a disgraceful manner,” Zhorzholiani said.