Former Prime Minister of Georgia and current candidate for mayor of Tbilisi Giorgi Gakharia went to Austria to take a drug test, Georgian media reported.

The results of the study will take time, Gakharia said, but his team will release them as soon as they arrive.

The first to hand over drug test results was the current head of the capital, Kakha Kaladze. He called on all candidates for mayor to follow his example. According to the results at the National Bureau, Kaladze was clean.

Kaladze’s initiative caused a mixed reaction among opponents, who called the current mayor’s proposal “populist.” Opposition parties said the candidates have no drug problems, but this is not in line with their agenda.

This alignment surprised Kaladze.

“I really did not expect such a result. I was sincerely sure that all candidates would follow me in this campaign, and, if possible, we could further popularise a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, we received a very deplorable result, we listened to incomprehensible statements,” said the mayor.

Commenting on Gakharia's decision to take the test abroad, Kaladze noted that he "is sincerely sorry to see Giorgi Gakharia in such a state."

Why Austria?

As Gakharia said, he decided to undergo a drug test in one of the authoritative laboratories in Austria, since a provocation was being prepared against him at the Levan Samkharauli National Bureau of Expertise. The media immediately suggested that that he was referring to the fear that the lab world state that he had drugs in his system.

The situation was also commented on by Natia Mezvrishvili, a member of the Gakharia "For Georgia" party.

“We will probably have contact with the Samkharauli bureau in the near future. They (the ruling Georgian Dream party) take such measures that I do not exclude communication with the bureau. It’s not about the fact that our party and team do not trust the bureau, but about the fact that they (the authorities) with the help of an authoritative bureau, planned provocations against Gakharia," Mezvrishvili said at the briefing.

Is there something to hide?

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili believes that Gakharia has something to hide, otherwise he would not complicate the process of taking a drug test.

"If a person is not hiding anything, what is the problem of passing a drug test? I think that this is the duty of every official and politician who has a claim to governing the country," Garibashvili said.

According to Garibashvili, the chairman of the United National Movement, Nika Melia, also knows about the "secret" of Gakharia, who decided to refuse to take the test.

According to current legislation, candidates for the civil service must pass a test for at least five drugs. These are the morphine, marijuana, amphetamine, methadone, and buprenorphine group.

Elections to the local self-government of Georgia will be held on October 2.