United National Movement – United Opposition "Strength is in Unity" Faction
Georgian political alliance / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The United National Movement – United Opposition "Strength is in Unity" Faction is one of two factions in the Parliament of Georgia, working as a coalition of MPs from several political parties, led by the United National Movement and including Progress and Freedom and Victorious Georgia. It is the parliamentary wing of a previous political block first created during the 2018 presidential election to back the candidacy of Grigol Vashadze and then reformed in 2020 to run a joint slate of candidates for that year's parliamentary election. In Parliament, it is the largest grouping of the Parliamentary Opposition (and the only faction), including 20 MPs, and is currently chaired by UNM's Tinatin Bokuchava.
Strength Is in Unity ძალა ერთობაშია Dzala ertobashia | |
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Chairperson | Tinatin Bokuchava |
Deputy Chairs | Levan Bezhashvili Giorgi Botkoveli |
Founder | Grigol Vashadze |
Founded | May 31, 2018 (2018-05-31) (coalition) May 31, 2021 (2021-05-31) (parliamentary faction) |
Ideology | Atlanticism Liberal conservatism Civic nationalism Economic liberalism Pro-Europeanism |
Political position | Centre-right |
Colors | Purple and orange |
Parliament | 20 / 150 |
Website | |
United National Movement Faction on Twitter | |
The faction is distinguished for its strong opposition to the Georgian Dream-led government and parliamentary majority. Its creation was approved by the Parliament of Georgia in May 2021 after its elected MPs agreed to end their legislative boycott, caused by allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 election. Originally chaired by Khatia Dekanoidze, the latter left the faction in February 2023 in protest of the new leadership elected in the United National Movement. It has been a strong advocate of a pro-European foreign policy, proposing several domestic reforms to harmonize Georgia's legal system according to a set of recommendations issued by the European Commission in June 2022, including the failed Anti-Oligarchy Act of 2022 that would have banned the political involvement of business and media magnates. It is also strongly opposed to any rapprochement towards Russia and has proposed abolishing the visa-free regime between Georgia and the Russian Federation. Since its creation, the faction has engaged in two boycotts besides the original, post-electoral one, both to show opposition to the arrest and treatment of former president Mikheil Saakashvili in prison.
While the parliamentary faction remains currently active, its electoral arm formally ceased to exist following the 2020 parliamentary election. Its largest group, the United National Movement, is affiliated with the European People's Party.