Georgia's Republican Party supports candidate Vashadze
TBILISI. Nov 2 (Interfax) - The opposition Republican Party of Georgia has decided to support Grigol Vashadze, the candidate of the former ruling party United National Movement, in the second round of the presidential election.
"We decided to support presidential candidate Grigol Vashadze in the second round of the election. He will certainly become president. Our party will help him win via our organizational and intellectual capacities," Levan Berdzenishvili, one of the founders of the Republican Party, told reporters following a meeting at Vashadze's campaign headquarters.
In 2007, Berdzenishvili was arrested on the charges of spying for Russia, but he was later released due to lack of evidence.
In 2011, the Republican Party joined a coalition with the current ruling party, Georgian Dream, to oppose the authorities headed by ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
In 2013, one of the leaders of the Republican Party, David Usupashvili, became the parliamentary speaker, and his wife Tinatin Khidasheli became the defense minister. In 2016, they announced that they were leaving the party over disagreements with its other leaders.
In the first round of the presidential election on October 28, Salome Zourabichvili, an independent candidate supported by Georgian Dream, won 38.6% of the vote, and Vashadze won 37.7%. The second round will be held no later than December 2.