Former PM and Tbilisi Mayoral candidate Giorgi Gakharia said that UNM leader Nika Melia's detention did not push him to resign.
''Do you really think I stepped down because of Nika Melia? The reason I made this decision is simple: upon noticing that some party members put partisan interests, which were more their interests than those of their party, before the interests of the country, I made the decision.
I have never regretted my decision, not a single minute, and I would do the same.
Do you know what made me resign? I wanted justice to be served as Nika Melia should not be an electoral candidate now _ he should be serving his term in jail. The man who attacked the parliament. The Georgian Dream must be feeling its share of responsibility for this. I thought they would wake up but was mistaken,'' Gakharia told Rustavi 2.
On 18 Feb 2021, PM Gakharia left his post. He named Nika Melia's detention as the cause of his move, explaining that imposing even a legal punitive measure against a man at the risk of political escalation and Georgian people's wellbeing was unacceptable for him.
