Political Activity
In 1998 he was elected member of the Tbilisi City Assembly, local governing authority of the capital of Georgia.
For the then ruling party (Citizens’ Union of Georgia), in order to win the general elections badly needed a certain number of successful people in its electoral party list. David Gamkrelidze, who did not hold the membership of this party, agreed to take part in the elections along with other businessmen .
On October 31, 1999 David Gamkrelidze became member of the Parliament of Georgia. At the first session sitting, he got elected as chairman of the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee. Gradually, David Gamkrelidze and his friends realized that the ruling party did not actually care for their professionalism and commitment to the matters of national importance. The period of disenchantment began, which reached its peak in the spring of 2000. That was right after the ruling party presented to the Parliament the budget for ratification in 1999 and demanded from the majority of the party to endorse it.
David Gamkrelidze and Levan Gachechiladze resigned in sign of protest and called for creation of a committee that would investigate the budget deficit of 1999.
On May 17, 2000 a special commission was formed with David Gamkrelidze at the chairmanship to investigate the budget deficit of 1999. In six months, David Gamkrelidze presented to the Parliament a conclusion and said the whole truth as to what the reason for the 1999 drastic budget deficit in actuality was.
On September 8, 2000 with the purpose to overcome the critical situation prevalent in the country and in order to raise public awareness in this regard, 35 professionals established a public organization – the “New Movement”. David Gamkrelidze was one of its founders and an active member. On September 17, 2000 the “New Faction” Group was formed in the Parliament. David Gamkrelidze was elected chairman of the group. The “New Faction”, despite of its smallness, significantly changed the situation in the Parliament. It truly said a totally different and new word in Georgia’s politics.
Read more about this topic: David Gamkrelidze
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