Paata Kunchulia, mayor of the Ozurgeti municipality from the ruling Georgian Dream party, announced his resignation on August 14, citing disappointment over a lack of support, the difficulties of being in politics, and a “hunt” from what he described as “agent opposition media outlets.”
In a lengthy Facebook post announcing the decision, Kunchulia highlighted what he described as the municipality’s achievements during his short tenure before accusing what he called “agent opposition media outlets” of “declaring a hunt on success and progress.”
He then lamented a lack of unity and support inside the local government, saying that even if the representatives of local authorities repeatedly called “on specific local officials to maintain unity,” he “did not feel the proper support” amid “artificially created problems.”
“I feel genuine disappointment about this, which played a certain role in the process of making this decision,” he said, noting that this still was not the main reason behind his resignation. “I will only add that being in politics proved to be very difficult,” Kunchulia noted.
He thanked his colleagues and fellow Ozurgeti residents while extending “special thanks” to the ruling party and its leaders for “trust and support.”
“I have always been, and will always remain, a loyal soldier of Georgian Dream,” Kunchulia concluded.
Kunchulia was elected mayor of Ozurgeti in the partially boycotted October 2025 local elections as a candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Before becoming mayor, Kunchulia had a long career in banking, finance, academia, and insolvency proceedings. He holds a Ph.D. in business administration from Tbilisi State University and has taught university courses, including as associate professor and head of a master’s program in Business Administration at David Aghmashenebeli University of Georgia.
Alexander Menabde, a member of the opposition For Georgia party and Kunchulia’s contender in Ozurgeti’s 2025 mayoral race, attributed the mayor’s resignation to party-internal struggles. He wrote on Facebook that Kunchulia’s departure came as no surprise, alleging he had been selected as a mayoral candidate by one of Georgian Dream’s internal clan groups to advance its interests and influence rather than for his competence or integrity.
The resignation “is one of the clearest manifestations of Georgian Dream’s internal clan struggle and [the ruling party] will be selecting the next mayoral candidate according to the same principle, but this time through another influence group,” Menabde wrote.
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