Majoritarian opposition candidate blasts Lelo party for favouring chaos, quits party on local elections day

Dato Nadirashvili, a majoritarian candidate for the opposition Lelo party in the local self-government elections, on Saturday left the party, citing its apparent preference for chaos over peaceful elections and his refusal to participate in violence.

In a social media message, Nadirashvili stressed that he was distancing himself from violence and unrest.

“I, the majoritarian candidate of the Lelo party, distance myself from violence and will not be complicit in it. As we can see, our party places more hope in unrest than in elections, which is the reason for my departure”, Nadirashvili said.

Local self-government elections are taking place in Georgia, with citizens voting to elect municipal council members and mayors for a four-year term.

Georgians are casting their ballots to select representatives to 64 local councils (Sakrebulo) and 64 mayors across the country.