A split in the Georgian opposition

The United National Movement (UNM), Georgia’s largest opposition party which governed the country during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili (2003–2012) underwent a split on 12 January 2017.

The parliamentary faction of the UNM is formed by twenty-seven deputies and twenty of them have left. They accused the former president of causing divides in the grouping and announced that an opposition pro-Western political movement would be established. Only seven deputies loyal to former president Saakashvili, who now lives in Ukraine, have remained in the parliamentary faction of the UNM.

ESO: Background information: Georgian parliamentary election, 8 October 2016 http://www.europeansources.info/record/georgian-parliamentary-election-8-october-2016/

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