Stalin’s grandson to organise new a Communist Party in Georgia

Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, grandson of Joseph Stalin, has announced his plans to unite "all genuine patriots" of Georgia into a "New Communist Party". The communist movement is on decline in Georgia, "first and foremost, because of the ambitions of the so-called communist leaders," Dzhugashvili said on Thursday. There are two parties of communists in present-day Georgia: the Communist Party of Georgia and the United Communist Party of Georgia, Dzhugashvili said. Their leaders, Vano Tsiklauri and Panteleimon Georgadze, are using the name of the communist party to selfish ends and, therefore, have nothing to do with the communist ideals, he said. Both parties were established under an order from the incumbent authorities of Georgia to discredit the communist movement in the eyes of society, Dzhugashvili said. Stalin's grandson said he did not aspire for leadership in the New Communist Party, but simply wanted "to unite under one and the same banner sound leftist forces of Georgia, which can take part in elections and win," Interfax reports. Asked whether his naturalisation by Russia may hamper the New Communist Party's registration by the Georgian Justice Ministry, Dzhugashvili said that his supporters and he "had considered everything in detail" and foresaw no juridical problems. "Anyway, we have another way to act. If we are denied registration, we will work through the already registered Union of Soviet Officers of Georgia," he said. Dzhugashvili said that people in Georgia would follow Stalin's grandson and believe that he would not allow "political games with the authorities."