Bachuki Kardava

Bachuki Kardava (Georgian: ბაჩუკი ქარდავა; born on December 28, 1969) is a Georgian politician, chairman of the National Democratic Party and a member of Parliament since 2020. One of Georgia's longest-standing opposition leaders, he has been at times opposed to both the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili and the government of Georgian Dream.

Kardava joined the NDP, one of Georgia's oldest political parties and led by anti-Soviet dissident Gia Chanturia, in 1991, when the party was in opposition to Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Following the murder of Chanturia in 1994, Kardava's standing in the party grew significantly and he became Secretary General of the NDP in 2000, leading internal reforms that solidified its standing as a right-wing party through a partnership with the U.S. Republican Party. In 2003, he became Chairman of the NDP after the party ousted Irina Sarishvili over her controversial alliance with Eduard Shevardnadze.

As party leader, he led it as an opposition party to Saakashvili following the Rose Revolution, although he would be refuse to take part in large-scale protests and the parliamentary boycott of 2008. In 2012, Kardava would refuse to join the coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, accusing him of holding undisclosed ties to Russia, and he would remain in the opposition following the electoral victory of Georgian Dream. In 2018, the NDP joined the UNM-led Strength Is in Unity coalition, backing the presidential candidacy of Grigol Vashadze, and Kardava would be elected to Parliament under the coalition's list in 2020.

Bachuki Kardava was one of 9 MPs that led a 5-day hunger strike in November 2021 to call for the release from prison of former President Mikheil Saakashvili.