The United National Movement – United Opposition "Strength is in Unity" Faction is one of two factions in the Parliament of Georgia, working as a coalition of MPs from several political parties, led by the United National Movement and including Progress and Freedom and Victorious Georgia. It is the parliamentary wing of a previous political block first created during the 2018 presidential election to back the candidacy of Grigol Vashadze and then reformed in 2020 to run a joint slate of candidates for that year's parliamentary election. In Parliament, it is the largest grouping of the Parliamentary Opposition (and the only faction), including 20 MPs, and is currently chaired by UNM's Tinatin Bokuchava.
The faction is distinguished for its strong opposition to the Georgian Dream-led government and parliamentary majority. Its creation was approved by the Parliament of Georgia in May 2021 after its elected MPs agreed to end their legislative boycott, caused by allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 election. Originally chaired by Khatia Dekanoidze, the latter left the faction in February 2023 in protest of the new leadership elected in the United National Movement. It has been a strong advocate of a pro-European foreign policy, proposing several domestic reforms to harmonize Georgia's legal system according to a set of recommendations issued by the European Commission in June 2022, including the failed Anti-Oligarchy Act of 2022 that would have banned the political involvement of business and media magnates. It is also strongly opposed to any rapprochement towards Russia and has proposed abolishing the visa-free regime between Georgia and the Russian Federation. Since its creation, the faction has engaged in two boycotts besides the original, post-electoral one, both to show opposition to the arrest and treatment of former president Mikheil Saakashvili in prison.
While the parliamentary faction remains currently active, its electoral arm formally ceased to exist following the 2020 parliamentary election. Its largest group, the United National Movement, is affiliated with the European People's Party.
History
Formation and 2018 presidential election
The Strength Is in Unity coalition was formed on July 18, 2018, ahead of that year's presidential election with the goal of uniting the forces of small political parties opposed to the Georgian Dream-led government to back a single presidential candidate. The coalition at the time nominated Grigol Vashadze, a former Foreign Minister and chairman of the United National Movement (UNM), the largest opposition-leaning political party in Georgia affiliated with former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
When the coalition was formed, Vashadze called it "the first step to achieving national consensus". In 2018, the coalition brought together ten parties, led by UNM, including For a New Georgia, Serve Georgia, the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Christian Conservative Party, the Civil Alliance for Freedom, New Georgia (NG), Georgia Among Leaders, and the European Democrats. UNM was the only one from the group to have elected leaders in Parliament, while media observers regularly called the other organizations "satellites" of UNM. Due to coalition being lesser known among the general public than its leading party, Vashadze was registered in the election as the United National Movement candidate. The coalition failed to bring on board other opposition parties, including the Labor Party, Democratic Movement-United Georgia, and Girchi, which all fielded their own presidential candidates.
The group was considered to be a "big tent" organization, described by its leaders as "united behind one common goal, a strong and free Georgia". Grigol Vashadze, whose campaign was chaired by NG's Giorgi Vashadze, promised to reduce bureaucracy and took strong stance against the legalization of cannabis. He would later be endorsed by European Georgia and the Republican Party during the runoffs, although both parties refused to formally join the coalition at the time. Though Vashadze eventually lost the presidential race, the Strength Is in Unity coalition remained active as a platform to run candidates in further elections and in May 2019, nominated Sandra Roelofs (UNM) as a candidate for Mayor of the Zugdidi Municipality.
On December 22, 2019, the coalition's unity suffered its first setback with the departure of the New Rights Party, itself a post-electoral member, which merged with the new Lelo for Georgia political party.