United National Movement

…to Shevardnadze and founded the United National Movement (UNM). Saakashvili was subsequently elected chairman of Tbilisi’s city council. In that post he raised pensions, donated school textbooks, and personally helped repair dilapidated residential buildings.

…Saakashvili, the head of the United National Movement (UNM), lead a peaceable uprising—termed the “Rose Revolution”—that drove Shevardnadze from power. Saakashvili was elected president the following year and immediately opened a campaign against corruption, sought to stabilize the economy, and attempted to secure the country against ethnic strife.

In 2012 Saakashvili’s UNM faced a challenge from the newly formed opposition coalition, Georgian Dream (GD), led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. Although polls showed the UNM with a strong lead several weeks before the October parliamentary elections, the party’s position was damaged in late September when the release…