Zviad Dzidziguri ( ka, ზვიად ძიძიგური) (born October 24, 1964) is a Georgian politician. He has been the chairman of the

Conservative Party of Georgia The Conservative Party of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს კონსერვატიული პარტია, ''Sak’art’velos konservatiuli partia'', SKP) is a political party, active in Georgia since 2001. Under its ...

since 2004 and a vice-speaker of the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proportio ...

since 2012.

Anti-Soviet opposition

Dzidziguri was born in the village of Marani in the Abasha District of then-

Soviet Georgia The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

and was trained as an engineer at the Polytechnic Institute of Georgia. He joined an anti-Soviet national movement in 1987.Zviad Dzidziguri
Civil Georgia. May 1, 2010. In July 1990, Dzidziguri, then an activist of

Zviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად გამსახურდია, tr; russian: Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия, Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdiya; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1 ...

-led Round Table coalition, was the principal driving force behind the blockade of a railway junction at

Samtredia Samtredia ( ka, სამტრედია ) is a town in Imereti, Georgia, lying in a lowland between the rivers Rioni and Tskhenis-Tsqali, west of the capital Tbilisi, and west of Georgia's second largest city Kutaisi. Georgia’s most impo ...

, mounted by the opposition to pressure the Soviet Georgian government into adopting a liberal election code.

Gamsakhurdia ally

Dzidziguri was elected to the

Supreme Council of Georgia The Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს რესპუბლიკის უზენაესი საბჭო, ''sakartvelos respublikis uzenaesi sabcho'') was the highest unicameral legislative bo ...

from Samtredia in Soviet Georgia's first multi-party election in 1990. In 1991,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Zviad Gamsakhurdia appointed him a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the Samtredia District. Dzidziguri remained Gamsakhurdia's loyalist after the president's ouster in the January 1992 coup d'état and acted as his envoy in the province of

Samegrelo Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr; xmf, სამარგალო, samargalo; ab, Агырны, Agirni) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelians ...

. Dzidziguri was arrested by the new government of

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for ...

in 1995 and spend five years in prison before being released as part of a mass pre-term release of political prisoners.

Later career

After his release, Dzidziguri founded the opposition political organization Union of National Forces, which evolved into the Conservative Party of Georgia. In 2002, he allied himself with the new opposition leader

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

Wheatley, Jonathan (2005), ''Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution'', p. 174. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., and was elected to the Parliament of Georgia from Samtredia on a joint ticket with Saakashvili-led United National Movement bloc in 2003. He was energetically involved in the mass demonstrations against Shevardnadze's government which concluded with the

Rose Revolution The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...

in November 2003 and brought Saakashvili to the presidency of Georgia in January 2004. Later that year, Dzidziguri broke with Saakashvili and withdrew into opposition, taking part in the demonstrations against the government in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

. In 2010, he ran, unsuccessfully, in the mayoral race in the Georgian capital,

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

. In 2011, he joined the new opposition alliance

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ( ka, ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, ''Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo'') is a social democratic political ...

led by

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili ( ka, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili ; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgian politician, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who served as Prime Minist ...

and was elected to the Parliament for the city of

Rustavi Rustavi ( ka, რუსთავი ) is a city in the southeast of Georgia (country), Georgia, in the mkhare, region of Kvemo Kartli and southeast of capital Tbilisi. It has a population of 130,100 (2021), making it the List of cities and towns i ...

in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

. On October 21, 2012, he was elected as one of the vice-speakers of the Parliament of Georgia.Georgian parliament elected vice-speakers
Trend. October 21, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzidziguri, Zviad 1964 births Georgian Dream politicians Members of the Parliament of Georgia People from Abasha Living people People from Rustavi Monarchists from Georgia (country)