Eight opposition parties in Georgia announced that they refuse to participate in the municipal elections planned for October, UNN reports with reference to "News Georgia".
The joint statement was signed by "Freedom Square", "European Georgia", "United National Movement", "Strategy Agmashenebeli", "Akhali", "Girchi - More Freedom", "Droa" and "Federalists".
The parties believe that their participation in the elections would create exclusively "an appearance of legitimacy of power" for "Georgian Dream".
"We believe that the path to victory lies in complete non-cooperation with the regime," the statement says.
The signatories of the statement position the ruling "Georgian Dream" as a "Russian party", and themselves as "pro-Western political parties and groups in Georgia, whose goal is the complete dismantling of Ivanishvili's Russian regime, the protection of Georgia's independence and sovereignty, the establishment of democratic governance of the European model, the creation of a safe environment, and NATO opportunities."
The joint statement was announced by the leader of the "Droa" party, Elene Khoshtaria, who, along with several like-minded people, had been on a hunger strike for several days in front of the parliament.
"We continue our joint national resistance to the end. With such a spirit and approach, I am ending my hunger strike so that we can all move together to a phase of very active struggle," Khoshtaria said, reading the appeal of eight opposition parties refusing to participate in the municipal elections.