The Free Democrats party said it would not run in the October municipal elections, but would instead get ready for the 2020 parliamentary elections.

The non-parliamentary opposition party named the crisis faced by the party following the 2016 parliamentary elections, as well as the failure of the election bloc set up jointly with the Republican Party as the main reasons behind its decision.  

“The crisis period started in the party following the October 2016 parliamentary elections, after several leaders and members quit the party. Considering this situation, running in the 2017 municipal elections independently is beyond our strength,” the party said in a statement released on August 11.

“Several months ago we were offered a very interesting project, the successful implementation of which would have enabled us to compete with the ruling Georgian Dream party in the municipal elections. At the first stage of this project we announced about setting up an election bloc with the Republican Party,” the party said adding that “regretfully” the project proved unsuccessful.

“In this situation, we decided not to run in the municipal elections and instead to get ready for the 2020 parliamentary elections. At the same time, we will continue to actively participate in the country’s political life and will play an important role in the struggle for developing a free, legal and democratic state,” the Free Democrats said.   

Free Democrats and Republican Party set up an election bloc in May 2017 to run in the upcoming municipal elections on a joint ticket.

The Free Democrats and the Republican Party, the two influential junior members of the Georgian Dream coalition in the 2012 parliamentary elections, ran independently in 2016 and failed to enter the parliament with 4.63 percent and 1.55 percent of nationwide votes, respectively.

The failure to enter the parliament prompted departures of several senior party officials of both parties, including their leaders, former Parliamentary Chairman Davit Usupashvili and former Defense Minister Irakli Alasania.