Shalva Natelashvili

Who is Shalva Natelashvili?

Shalva Natelashvili is chairman and founder of Georgian Labour Party known for his populism and criticism of the current President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili. He is married and has 2 children.

Born in the northern mountain town of Dusheti, Shalva Natelashvili graduated in law from Tbilisi State University and continued post-graduate study in the Diplomatic Academy of Foreign Ministry of the Soviet Union. After working in the General Prosecutor’s Office he became MP in 1992 and remained in the Parliament until 1999. He was among the group of MPs who participated in development of Georgia’s Constitution. In 1995 he founded the Georgian Labour Party, which gradually turned into Eduard Shevardnadze’s major opposition force, and now acts as Chairman of that party. He supported Shevardnadze's government during the 2003 Rose Revolution, however, and later was a staunch opponent of President Mikheil Saakashvili.