as a political hot potato. Both the United National Movement and the European Georgia party were open to receiving him back into the party, support also coming from Saakashvili. Other opposition parties, however, have rejected the possibility of Merabishvili's membership, including the Movement for United Georgia and Lelo for Georgia. In March, writing for the Eurasian Daily Monitor, Giorgi Menabde suggested that the opposition were in fact unwilling to accept Merabishvili into their parties due to a fear he may be too controversial. Though he can run as an independent candidate for the Akhaltsikhe seat in the 2020 Georgian parliamentary election, Iosif Tsintsadze rejected the possibility of Merabishvili winning without party support. Merabishvili claimed on Facebook that he was deliberately provided substandard medical care during his imprisonment, needing to travel to Poland to seek treatment before returning to Georgia. Personal life Merabishvili is married to Tamar Salaqaia (born 1981). They have two sons, Misha (მიშა) (born 2000) and Davit (დავითი) (born 2009). References |- |- Government ministers of Georgia (country) Members of the Parliament of Georgia 1968 births Living people People from Samtskhe–Javakheti Prime Ministers of Georgia United National Movement (Georgia) politicians Union of Citizens of Georgia politicians Recipients of St. George's Order of Victory 21st-century politicians from Georgia (country) Heads of government who were later imprisoned Georgian Technical University alumni