Nato Chkheidze served as vice-chair of the UNM's parliamentary faction "Strength Is in Unity" until May 2023, before leaving the faction along with other SFP members.
15 Facts About Nato Chkheidze
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Nato Chkheidze was born on June 1,1960, in Gori, daughter of the famous author Otar Chkeidze.
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Nato Chkheidze is married to wealthy businessman Zaza Okuashvili, owner of the Omega Group.
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Nato Chkheidze first joined politics as a member of the Union of Georgian Traditionalists, a conservative and monarchist political party allied with Adjara's strongman leader Aslan Abashidze.
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Nato Chkheidze joined the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia, a far-right and pro-Russian party, ahead of the 2016 parliamentary elections, and became one of its largest financial contributors.
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Nato Chkheidze was elected to Parliament, figuring third on the party's electoral list, and became the APG faction's vice-chairwoman, while her husband Zaza Okuashvili was elected to APG's sole seat on the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara.
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On July 12,2017, Nato Chkheidze was one of three APG members of Parliament to lead a highly controversial visit to Russia, meeting with Duma leader Leonid Kalashnikov and members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, at a time when Russia and Georgia maintained no diplomatic relations since the 2008 Russo-Georgia War.
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Controversially, Nato Chkheidze received criticism from labor groups as she told Iberia TV employees to "ask the government" for their salaries when the company closed.
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Nato Chkheidze serves on the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee and as a member of the Georgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie.
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Nato Chkheidze has routinely received attacks from Georgian Dream officials, including party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze who compared her to a "Bolshevik".
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Nato Chkheidze considers herself to be a partisan of former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who died in 1993, and has proposed to change Georgia's Independence Day date from 26 May to 9 April.
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Nato Chkheidze has been a strong proponent of increasing the social welfare system, proposing the distribution of apartments to poor families, funding municipal clinics across the country, and lowering the retirement age.
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MP Nato Chkheidze has spoken out against the National Bank of Georgia, calling for a government intervention to lower commercial interest rates.
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Nato Chkheidze voted in favor of a bill sponsored by the libertarian Girchi party to investigate the NBG's price stability policy.
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Nato Chkheidze was one of 18 opposition MPs to propose a reform package to match the European Commission's June 2022 recommendations for the country to receive the EU membership candidacy.