Two days after leader of the Free Democrats (FD) party, Irakli Alasania, said he was temporarily quitting the politics, several other senior members of the party also announced about stepping down to, as they put it, give way to newcomers in the party.

Zurab Abashidze, Victor Dolidze, Davit Onoprishvili, Irakli Chikovani and Gia Tsagareishvili, who are members of the outgoing parliament and who failed to be re-elected in the new one in the October 8 elections, announced about quitting the FD party on October 12.

FD received 4.62% of votes in the elections, falling short of 5% threshold needed for a party to enter the Parliament.

Abashidze, Dolidze, Chikovani and Onoprishvili were also running in single-mandate constituencies for majoritarian MP mandates, but they came third in their respective districts.

Along with Alasania, who also announced about withdrawing from the second round runoff race for majoritarian MP seat in the town of Gori, FD’s one of the leaders and former state minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Alexi Petriashvili, also said on October 10 that he was quitting the party.

FD’s majoritarian MP candidate in Chiatura, Temur Gaprindashvili, made it to the second round runoff after receiving 19.11% of votes in the first round on October 8; in the second round he will face GDDG’s candidate, who garnered 34.35% of votes in the first round.

Tamar Kekenadze, FD’s executive secretary, said on October 12 that that party will spare no effort to achieve its candidate’s victory in Chiatura. She also said that the party will continue its political activities and prepare for the local elections in October, 2017.