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.
Claudia Benedikta Roth is a German politician. She was one of the two party chairs from 2004 to 2013 and previously served as one of the vice presidents of the Bundestag. She is currently serving as Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media[de] in the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021.
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. He is the founder and former chairman of Georgia's United National Movement party. From May 2015 until November 2016, Saakashvili was the governor of Ukraine's Odesa Oblast. After resigning, he was temporarily exiled, but returned in 2019 under a new President. Saakashvili returned to Georgia in 2021, and has been imprisoned there since then.
Zurab Zhvania was a Georgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.
Theodora "Dora" Bakoyanni is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever to have been held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece at the time; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009. Previously she was the Mayor of Athens from 2003 to 2006, the first female mayor in the city's history, and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games. She also served as Minister for Culture of Greece from 1992 to 1993.
Giorgi Baramidze is a Georgian politician who served as Vice Prime Minister of Georgia and State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration from 2004 to 2012. On October 21, 2012, he was elected as a vice-speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.
Irakli Alasania is a Georgian politician, soldier and former diplomat who served as the Minister of Defense of Georgia from 2012 to 2014. He was Georgia's Ambassador to the United Nations from September 11, 2006, until December 4, 2008. His previous assignments include Chairman of the Government of Abkhazia(-in-exile) and the President of Georgia's aide in the Georgian-Abkhaz talks. Soon after his resignation, Alasania withdrew into opposition to the Mikheil Saakashvili administration, setting up the Our Georgia – Free Democrats party in July 2009. In 2012 Alasania was appointed Minister of Defense, a position he held until 2014.
Giorgi Arveladze is a Georgian politician who served as the Minister of Economic Development from 2006 to 2008 under President Mikheil Saakashvili. Arveladze is an ally of Saakashvili and played a central role in the Rose Revolution of November 2003.
Since their independence from the Soviet Union, Georgia and Ukraine have forged close political and cultural relations. The diplomatic relations between the two nations are realized at the level of embassies and consulates. Due to the prosecution in Georgia of Georgian/Ukrainian politician Mikheil Saakashvili and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations between the two countries have soured significantly.
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.
Levan Gachechiladze is a Georgian politician and businessman who ran as the main opposition candidate in the 5 January 2008 Georgian presidential election.
Dorothee Gisela Renate Maria Bär is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2002. From 2014 to 2021, she served in various capacities in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In 2013, Georgia finalized its first-ever peaceful change of power and transition to a parliamentary republic. The Georgian Dream-dominated government, which came to power after defeating, in October 2012, the United National Movement led by the outgoing President Mikheil Saakashvili, promised more democratic reforms. The Georgian Dream candidate Giorgi Margvelashvili won the presidential election in October 2013 and the new constitution significantly reducing the authority of the president in favor of those of the prime minister and government came into effect. In November, the leader of the Georgian Dream, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili announced his withdrawal from politics as promised earlier, and the Parliament of Georgia approved his nominee, Irakli Garibashvili, as the country's new head of government.
The 2014 Georgian local elections were held on 15 June and 12 July 2014 to elect the councils of local government, sakrebulo, mayors of 12 self-governing cities, as well as the governors, gamgebeli, of 59 municipalities.
Alliance of Patriots of Georgia is a right-wing to far-right political party in Georgia. It was founded in 2012 by leaders from the Resistance Movement, which opposed the pro-Western government of Mikheil Saakashvili. Davit Tarkhan Mouravi has served as the party's chairman, while Irma Inashvili serves as its secretary general.
The 2017 Georgian local elections were held on 21 October 2017 to elect the bodies of local government of Georgia: 2,058 members of representative councils (sakrebulo) and 64 mayors of municipalities. The votes went into second-round runoffs in six municipalities on 12 November 2017. The ruling Georgian Dream party won in all constituencies under the proportional contest and secured 62 out of 64 mayoral positions.
Tamar (Tako) Charkviani is a Georgian politician, a former member of the Parliament of Georgia, and the founder of the political party Law and Justice.
The 2020–2021 Georgian political crisis was a political crisis in Georgia that resulted from allegations by opposition parties that the 2020 Georgian parliamentary election was rigged. The opposition accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of election fraud and did not recognize the results. They announced protests and parliamentary boycott. The opposition held a rally on November 1, a day after the elections, and called for snap parliamentary elections. On November 2, the eight opposition parties refused to enter parliament. In February 2021, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned over plans to arrest opposition leader Nika Melia, which occurred on 23 February.
European Socialists is a political party in Georgia. The party was founded on January 9, 2021, by four MPs who defected from the right-wing populist Alliance of Patriots party list. The party was registered in the National Agency of Public Registry on 28 January 2021.
Nato Chkheidze is a Georgian businesswoman and politician, co-founder of the Omega Group with her husband Zaza Okuashvili, and a member of Parliament in 1999-2004 and since 2020.
