On 14 February, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party voiced their support for the motion of Georgia’s Prosecutor General to suspend the mandate of the leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) Nikanor Melia.  

Mamuka Mdinaradze from the GD said that the UNM and its leader were “deliberately provoking the judiciary, the state and the public trust to the state institutions.” Saying that Melia either should apologise to the public and state and pay the bail or go to prison, Mdinaradze said that Melia now has time and opportunity to respect his country's legislation and make “a legally right” decision.

Melia, on his behalf, argued that the Georgian government divides people in two categories, into supporters and the accusable ones, and that he belongs to the latter.  “I have many friends who are lawyers, and I talk with them as often as possible. Everyone is 100% certain that I will unquestionably win this case if it ends up in Strasbourg. They have done so many stupid things that there is no way for me not to win. I was not expecting this at all. Honestly, I didn't even remember the case. This decision was probably connected to the successful process taking place in the UNM. We took a risk and started the process of renewal. We brought in a new group of people. There will be a second wave of renewal. We plan for it to take place in a month,” Melia emphasised. 

The UNM leader was charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019 and was released on 30,000 lari bail. However, he violated the conditions of bail by publicly removing his surveillance bracelet and 40,000 lari was added to his bail in November 2020. Melia refused to pay the 40,000 lari bail (in 50 days) and on 5 February 2021 the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office warned him of changing the bail to detention.  

Melia was not the only opposition leader who had an open confrontation with the official authorities in the country, as the leader of the libertarian Girchi party Zurab Japaridze also followed the example. The labour inspection department of the Health Ministry fined Japaridze an amount of 2000 lari for running a bar at 45 Aghmashenebeli Avenue in Tbilisi against state-imposed restrictions aimed to curb the spread of Covid-19. “I demanded my parliamentarian status to be terminated and they did not do it, so I had to open a bar to terminate the mandate,” said Japaridze in response to his action. He also said before he got fined that if his bar would manage to operate without restrictions, this would encourage other businesses to follow his example and reopen. 

Meanwhile, following the announcement of structural changes, key figures had left the opposition European Georgia (EG) party, including the party’s Chairman David Bakradze, Secretary General Gigi Ugulava and fellow member Zurab Chiaberashvili. “If we want radical change, we must all start from the beginning - the opposition, individual parties, each individual. The fact is that there is no breakthrough in this way. That is why I consider it necessary to give way to the next generation by turning the page. I see a lot of young people around me who I trusted to handle important public affairs,” stated Chiaberashvili in response why he made such a decision. 

Ugulava stated that the EG’s results in the October elections were very bad and he takes the responsibility. “I make way for fresh faces who will do it better,” he noted. He added that he is staying in politics and would take part in common opposition activities. Bakradze, on his behalf, emphasised that “not some, but all of the EG leaders should leave the party as the main point of the responsibility is when the team makes a renewal decision together.”