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Running in Local Elections Unacceptable, says Former Parliament Speaker

Nino Burjanadze, ex-parliamentary speaker and leader of Democratic Movement-United Georgia, said that it was “principally unacceptable” to participate in the local elections.

In a statement released on December 28, she indicated that running in the elections would amount to engaging “in a game which is already lost and a game in which the Georgian President and Interior Minister act as referees.”

Burjanadze says that under current conditions, when the authorities “have proved that they have no desire to create democratic electoral environment, only an electoral farce is expected,” which “will serve for legalization and prolongation of Saakashvili’s presence in power, which he gained undemocratically.”

She also said that local elections would not help to resolve “the existing problems and threats” the country faces and “real changes” could only be achieved through presidential elections.

National Forum and Labor Party have also announced earlier that they would not run in the local elections.