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Liberal political party in Georgia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ahali (Georgian: ახალი, romanized: akhali; lit. 'New') is a liberal pro-European political party in Georgia. It was founded in 2024 by Nika Melia, former chairman of United National Movement, and Nika Gvaramia, former CEO of Mtavari Arkhi TV channel.[9][10] It was a part of Coalition for Change political alliance for the 2024 parliamentary election, receiving 10 seats in the Georgian parliament.[11]
Ahali ახალი | |
|---|---|
| |
| Leader | Nika Gvaramia Nika Melia |
| Founded | 11 March 2024 |
| Split from | United National Movement |
| Preceded by | State for the People[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre[7] to centre-right[8] |
| National affiliation | Coalition for Change (since 2024) |
| Colors | Green and Orange |
| Seats in Parliament | 10 / 150 |
| Municipal Councilors | 57 / 2,068 |
| Seats In Tbilisi City Assembly | 2 / 50 |
| Website | |
| ahaliparty | |
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Ahali was founded on 11 March 2024 by two prominent opposition figures Nika Melia and Nika Gvaramia. Melia was the chairman of United National Movement from 2020 to 2023, with him being expelled from the party after losing a controversial leadership race in 2023, while Gvaramia was the founder and CEO of Mtavari Arkhi, a popular opposition TV channel.[9] Ahali did not register as a new party, rather they transformed an existing State for the People party into their own. Gvaramia and Melia were registered as co-chairs of Ahali.[12]
On 5 April, Ahali, along with six other pro-Western parties, issued a joint statement condemning Georgian Dream’s reintroduction of the Foreign Agents bill with them describing the move as a "betrayal of Georgia’s European path".[13] The party subsequently joined "Russian Law" protests.[14]
On 3 June, Ahali signed the Georgian Charter initiated by President Salome Zourabichvili in an attempt to consolidate the pro-Western opposition and set out their post-election manifesto.[15] Ahali, along with five other opposition parties, additionally signed "Declaration of Unity" paper to further consolidate the opposition ahead of the 2024 parliamentary election.[16]
Since formal coalitions were banned, Ahali created an informal coalition with two parties Girchi – More Freedom and Droa announcing they would be fielding their candidates on Ahali’s party list.[17] Ahali was subsequently renamed to Coalition for Change.[11] Later on, Republican Party and Activists for the Future movement joined the coalition.[18]
Ahali is described as a centrist liberal party with a pro-European foreign policy.[2][3][5] Gvaramia has positioned Ahali as a "centrist party with a slight right-wing bias" with him railing against what he sees as a left-wing shift of UNM, the largest opposition party and also the party from which Ahali is a splinter off.[19]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government | Coalition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Nika Melia Nika Gvaramia |
229,161 | 11.03 | 10 / 150 |
New | 2nd | Opposition | Coalition for Change |
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