 |
|---|
 Georgia portal |
Local elections were held in Georgia on October 5, 2006. The elections follow a decree issued on August 26 by President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, setting the date for the local ballot.
| |
|---|
| Georgia portal |
Local elections were held in Georgia on October 5, 2006. The elections follow a decree issued on August 26 by President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, setting the date for the local ballot.
This vote was considered to be the first major test of the authorities commitment to a transparent process in non-revolutionary circumstances. In addition they were to demonstrate the level of public confidence in both the NMD - after a series of scandals - and the opposition, which has begun to strengthen and reorganise that year.
The elections coincided with a very tense period of relations with Russia. After a major diplomatic row regarding alleged Russian spying, the Kremlin has severed all transport and post links with Georgia.
According to preliminary results, the elections were won by the United National Movement led by President Saakashvili with an overwhelming majority. The predominantly Armenian-populated city of Akhalkalaki was the only municipality where an opposition grouping, the Industry Will Save Georgia Party, won a majority of votes. According to international observers, particularly the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the "municipal elections in Georgia were conducted with general respect for fundamental freedoms; however, the blurred distinction between the ruling authorities and the leading party reinforced the advantage of the incumbents". [1]
A total of 1,694 mandates were distributed throughout Georgia, comprising 748 seats allocated by the proportional system and 946 majoritarian seats, with the vast majority awarded to the National Movement:
| Party | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proportional | Constituency | Total | ||||||
| National Movement | 578 | 925 | 1503 | |||||
| RPG-CPG bloc | 45 | 9 | 54 | |||||
| Labour Party | 34 | 5 | 39 | |||||
| ISWG | 23 | 4 | 27 | |||||
| The Way of Georgia | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Independent | 68 | 0 | 68 | |||||
| Total | 748 | 946 | 1694 | |||||
| Source: | ||||||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proportional | Constituency | Total | |||||||
| National Movement | 204 261 | 66.53 | 9 | 25 | 34 |  20 | Government | ||
| RPG-CPG bloc | 36 973 | 12.04 | 1 | 0 | 1 | New | Opposition | ||
| Labour Party | 32 701 | 10.65 | 1 | 0 | 1 |  14 | Opposition | ||
| ISWG | 18 671 | 6.08 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Opposition | ||
| The Way of Georgia | 8 512 | 2.77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| PGNI | 74 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | Extra-parliamentary | ||
| Total | 307 015 | 100 | 37 | ± | |||||
| Electorate/voter turnout | 883 806 | 34.74 | |||||||
| Source: , | |||||||||
Politics in Georgia involve a parliamentary representative democratic republic with a multi-party system. The President of Georgia is the ceremonial head of state and the Prime Minister of Georgia is the head of government. The Prime Minister and the Government wield executive power. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the unicameral Parliament of Georgia.
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. From May 2015 until November 2016, Saakashvili was the governor of Ukraine's Odesa Oblast. He is the founder and former chairman of the United National Movement party. Saakashvili heads the executive committee of Ukraine's National Reform Council since 7 May 2020. In 2021 he began serving a six-year prison sentence in Georgia on charges of abuse of power and organization of an assault occasioning grievous bodily harm against an opposition lawmaker, Valery Gelashvili.
Nino Burjanadze is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 to June 2008. As the first woman, she has served as the acting head of state of Georgia twice; the first time from 23 November 2003 to 25 January 2004 in the wake of Eduard Shevardnadze's resignation during the Rose Revolution, and again from 25 November 2007 to 20 January 2008, when Mikheil Saakashvili stepped down to rerun in the early presidential elections. She withdrew into opposition to Saakashvili as the leader of the Democratic Movement-United Georgia party in 2008. In October 2013, she ran in the presidential election, competing against 22 candidates. She ended third with 10 percent of the vote.
United National Movement also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the party's chairman, while its honorary chairman Mikheil Saakashvili is considered the de facto leader.
Union of Citizens of Georgia (UCG) was the ruling party of Georgia from 1993 to 2003. It was established by the president Eduard Shevardnadze, who had previously server as the Communist leader of the Georgian SSR from 1972 to 1985, and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of the Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia.
The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections and culminated in the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, which marked the end of the Soviet era leadership in the country. The revolution derives its name from the climactic moment, when demonstrators led by Mikheil Saakashvili stormed the Parliament session with red roses in hand.
Politics in Abkhazia is dominated by its conflict with Georgia. Abkhazia became de facto independent from Georgia after the 1992–1993 war, but its de jure independence has only been recognised by a few other countries. Abkhazia is a presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party system, wherein the President is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government of the Republic of Abkhazia. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the People's Assembly of Abkhazia.
Ivane "Vano" Merabishvili is a Georgian politician and 9th Prime Minister of Georgia from 4 July to 25 October 2012. A former NGO activist, he became directly involved in Georgia's politics in 1999 and emerged as one of the government's most influential members after the 2003 Rose Revolution, especially as Georgia's Minister of Internal Affairs.
The Adjara crisis, also known as the Adjarian Revolution or the Second Rose Revolution, was a political crisis in Georgia's Adjaran Autonomous Republic, then led by Aslan Abashidze, who refused to obey the central authorities after President Eduard Shevardnadze's ouster during the Rose Revolution of November 2003. The crisis threatened to develop into military confrontation as both sides mobilized their forces at the internal border. However, Georgia's post-revolutionary government of President Mikheil Saakashvili managed to avoid bloodshed and with the help of Adjaran opposition reasserted its supremacy. Abashidze left the region in exile in May 2004 and was succeeded by Levan Varshalomidze.
The Democratic Union for Revival was a Political Party in Georgia. The party acquired its current name in 1998, having operated since 1992 under the chairmanship of Aslan Abashidze and the name "Adjaran Union for the Rebirth of Georgia".
In 2007, a series of anti-government protests took place across Georgia. The demonstrations peaked on 2 November 2007, when 40,000–50,000 people rallied in downtown Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. People protested against the allegedly corrupt government of president Mikheil Saakashvili. Protests triggered by detention of Georgian politician Irakli Okruashvili on charges of extortion, money laundering, and abuse of office during his tenure as defense minister of the country were organized by the National Council, an ad hoc coalition of ten opposition parties, and financed by the media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili. Demonstrations occurred both in September and November 2007 and were initially largely peaceful. The protests went downhill by 6 November 2007, but turned violent the next day when the police, using heavy-handed tactics, including tear gas and water cannon, unblocked Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi's main boulevard, dislodged the protesters from the territory adjoining to the House of Parliament, and prevented the demonstrators from resuming the protests. The government accused the Russian secret services of being involved in an attempted coup d'état and declared a nationwide state of emergency later that day which lasted until 16 November 2007.
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 21 May 2008. President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed a referendum on bringing them forward from fall to spring after the 2007 Georgian demonstrations. The referendum was held at the same time as the early presidential election on 5 January 2008; the results indicated that voters were largely in favour of having the elections in spring.
Presidential elections were held in Georgia on 5 January 2008, moved forward from autumn 2008 by President Mikheil Saakashvili after the 2007 demonstrations.
The Republican Party of Georgia, commonly known as the Republicans, is a political party in Georgia active since 1978. Until March 2016, the party was a part of the Georgian Dream coalition that won the 2012 election, defeating the United National Movement. Currently it is in opposition to Georgian Dream as part of the UNM-led Strength Is in Unity coalition.
Akaki "Ako" Minashvili is a Georgian politician, a member of Parliament in 2008-2016 and since 2020, and a former Chairman of its Foreign Relations Committee.
The National Forum was a political party in Georgia established on December 15, 2006 by the former diplomat Kakha Shartava. He is the son of Zhiuli Shartava, a Georgian politician in Abkhazia, killed by the Abkhaz militias during the secessionist war in the region in 1993. Several veteran politicians such as Revaz Shavishvili, Irakli Melashvili and Gubaz Sanikidze also joined the party.
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 1 October 2012. The opposition Georgian Dream coalition of billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili won a majority of the seats. President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded his party's defeat.
United National Movement – United Opposition "Strength is in Unity" Faction was a politican coalition and a parliamentary faction in Georgia. It was led by United National Movement, the largest party within the bloc, and additionally included Progress and Freedom and Victorious Georgia parties. It was one of the two factions in the 10th Parliament of Georgia, serving in the opposition to the Georgian Dream government.
The 2021 Georgian local elections were held on 2 and 30 October to elect the bodies of local government of Georgia.
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 26 October 2024. The elections were held under the rules passed in 2017 through the constitutional amendments which shifted the electoral system towards a fully proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold. The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party sought to win its fourth term in office. Its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili—an influential oligarch and former prime minister often regarded as the country's éminence grise following his official departure from politics in 2021—returned to politics several months before the polls to lead GD in the elections.
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
| |
  | This Georgian elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
