Zurab Japaridze

Zurab Japaridze, 2013 UNM Presidential Candidate

Zurab Japaridze (Georgian: ზურაბ ჯაფარიძე; born 1 January 1976) is a Georgian politician and the member of the Parliament of Georgia of the 8th convocation since 2012. He won the ticket from the United National Movement party (UNM), which he quit in May 2015. In June 2013, he was one of the candidates for the 2013 UNM presidential nomination.

Japaridze graduated from the Tbilisi State Medical University in 1999 and Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) in 2005. Since 1998, he has worked for various Western-funded assistance programs for Georgia. He was a professor at the GIPA from 2005 to 2011 and at the Free University of Tbilisi since 2011. From 2010 to 2012 he was also a columnist for the Tabula magazine. He became involved in the politics of Georgia in October 2012, when he was elected to the Parliament of Georgia on a UNM ticket in the election that saw the defeat of the hitherto ruling UNM party.^[1] In June 2013, the UNM—then an opposition party–named Japaridze as one of the four candidates for the party's presidential primaries, subsequently won by Davit Bakradze, who, in turn, lost the Georgian Dream candidate Giorgi Margvelashvili.^[2][3] Japaridze served as the UNM's executive secretary, but left the party in May 2015.^[4]

Political views

Japaridze adheres to the libertarian and strong pro-Western views. Japaridze has been a long time proponent of Georgia's membership in North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. Japaridze's economic policies are focused on the deregulation of the market and the development of macroeconomic potential in the country. Since becoming the member of the Parliament, Japaridze has been actively advocating for low taxes, small government, government decentralization, and privatization of state-owned property. Japaridze also supports marijuana legalization in Georgia.

References

External links

• (Georgian) Articles by Zurab Japaridze