Gubaz Sanikidze

Gubaz Sanikidze (Georgian: გუბაზ სანიკიძე; born on 2 February 1967) is a Georgian politician, currently serving as a member of the Parliament of Georgia from the United National Movement (UNM) since 2020. A career historian, he was first elected to Georgia's legislature during the 1990 elections that saw the downfall of the Soviet regime, as a member of the conservative Traditionalist Party. Following the Georgian Civil War, his party formed an alliance with the authoritarian leader of Adjara Aslan Abashidze and he was elected to a second term as MP in 1999, during which he became an opponent to President Eduard Shevardnadze. After the rise to power of a new government with the Rose Revolution, he remained in the opposition and lost his seat in 2004, launching with other veteran politicians the National Forum. He briefly served a third term in Parliament in 2008, resigning his seat two weeks after being elected.

A vocal critique of President Mikheil Saakashvili, Sanikidze joined the Georgian Dream coalition as it defeated UNM in 2012 and won a fourth term in Parliament as Majoritarian MP from Kutaisi. He successively served as Chairman of the Diaspora and Caucasus Committee, pushing for closer ties between Georgia and Iran, and as Vice Speaker of Parliament. In 2016, Sanikidze left the National Forum and became an opponent of the GD government. He would be reelected, this time as a member of SIU, to Parliament in 2020.