Georgian Dream

Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (Georgian: ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo) is the governing party of Georgia. The party was established on 19 April 2012 by the billionaire businessman and politician Bidzina Ivanishvili.[5] It is the leading party of the six-party Georgian Dream political coalition which won the 2012 parliamentary election. The political party Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia currently has 89 seats in the 150-seat Georgian parliament.

Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო
Chairperson	Bidzina Ivanishvili
Secretary-General	Kakha Kaladze
Political Secretary	Irakli Gharibashvili
Executive Secretary	Irakli Kobakhidze
Parliamentary Leader	Mamuka Mdinaradze
Founder	Bidzina Ivanishvili
Founded	April 21, 2012 (2012-04-21)
Headquarters	Tbilisi, Georgia
Ideology	Populism Pro-Europeanism[1] Social democracy Factions: Conservatism Liberalism[2]
Political position	Centre-left to centre-right[3]
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (observer)
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance[4]
Colours	Blue      Amber
Slogan	თავისუფლება, სწრაფი განვითარება, კეთილდღეობა ("Freedom, Rapid Development, Welfare")
Parliament	89 / 150
Cabinet of Georgia	10 / 11
Tbilisi Sakrebulo	38 / 50
Website
41.ge
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

History

The party evolved from the public movement Georgian Dream, launched by Ivanishvili as a platform for his political activities in December 2011. Since Ivanishvili was not a Georgian citizen at the moment of the party's inaugural session, the lawyer Manana Kobakhidze was elected as an interim, nominal chairman of the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia. The party also includes several notable Georgians such as the politician Sozar Subari, former diplomat Tedo Japaridze, chess grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili, security commentator Irakli Sesiashvili, writer Guram Odisharia and famed footballer Kakha Kaladze.[6][7]

The party successfully challenged the ruling United National Movement (UNM) in the 2012 parliamentary election, pledging to increase welfare spending and pursue a more pragmatic foreign policy with Russia.[6] It won this election in coalition with six other opposition parties, with 54.97% of the vote, being allotted 85 seats in parliament.[5] The governing UMN took 40.34%. President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded that his party lost, and pledged to support the constitutional process of forming a new government.[8]

In April 2017 senior MP Gedevan Popkhadze threatened to quit the party for its endorsement of an opposition-nominated candidate to the supervisory board of the Georgian Public Broadcaster.[9] Popkhadze criticized the candidate for being anti-religious. The incident is seen as an internal conflict between long-time GD members which joined the party while it was in opposition and a new group of members who were installed in high positions prior to the 2016 parliamentary elections. The news agency Democracy and Freedom Watch related the incident to the return of Bidzina Ivanishvili as chairman of the party later that month, which furthermore was perceived as a move to maintain the unity of the coalition.[10]

In August 2018 Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the party will nominate no candidate for 2018 presidential elections. Instead it is supporting the independent candidate Salome Zurabishvili.

During the 2019 Georgian protests the party was accused of being corrupt and subservient to Russian interests.[11][12][13][14] In late 2019 Facebook publicly announced that it removed from Facebook and Instagram a number of accounts and pages engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior that sought to promote the Georgian Dream government.[15]

Ideology

Like many parties of power the Georgian Dream lacks a clear ideology. The reasons were given for this range from the party's history as an all-encompassing front of people opposed to the UNM government to the standard opportunism associated with such parties. Levan Lortkipanidze, a political science student at Tbilisi State University, described it as "a party of nomenclature, public servants, ‘intelligentsia’, medium and large businessmen, and technocrats – a party, which is held together through loyalty to its charismatic leader and the opposition to the government of the ‘Rose Revolution.’"[16] In addition, it has been reported that left-wing activists view the party as “ideologically amorphous” in contrast to the party's own self-identification with the left itself.[17]

In 2017 the party's majority amended the constitution to define marriage as "a union between a woman and a man for the purpose of creating a family.”[18] Yet instead of citing conservative moral concerns, the party openly explained the amendment as a way to defang groups "stirring up homophobic and anti-Western sentiment."[19] During its first government, the party passed legislation against discrimination toward LGBT individuals, making Georgia the most LGBT-friendly country in the South Caucasus de jure.[20]

According to the Georgian Institute of Politics, Georgian Dream's economic policy comprises a combination of the pre-existing free market model, created by their predecessors, with a comprehensive "centre-left" safety net.[21]

Georgian Dream coalition

Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party is the leading member of the Georgian Dream Coalition, which initially included six political parties of diverse ideological orientations.[22][23] The coalition was made up of pro-market and pro-western liberals, radical nationalists with xenophobic rhetoric, and former representatives of the Shevardnadze administration who were disempowered during the Rose Revolution of 2003.[24] The name of the alliance is inspired by a rap song by Ivanishvili's son Bera.[25][26]

Constituent parties

• Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia - 89 seats
• Green Party of Georgia- 6 seats
• Conservative Party of Georgia - 1 seat (Paata Kvijinadze has remained both in Georgian Dream and his party, while the party itself has left the coalition)

Former constituent parties

• Our Georgia – Free Democrats - 8 seats (left the coalition and became an opposition party on 5 November 2014)
• National Forum - 6 seats (left the coalition after convention where majority of party members voted to leave on 3 April 2016)
• Republican Party of Georgia - 10 seats (left the coalition in March 2016)
• Industry Will Save Georgia - 6 seats (left the coalition before the 2016 election)
• Social Democrats for the Development of Georgia - 6 seats (members left in February and March 2019 because of problems concerning the Judiciary and Pension system)
• Conservative Party of Georgia - 5 seats (left over the 2019 Georgian protests)

Electoral performance

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Government
2012	Bidzina Ivanishvili	1,184,612	54.97	85 / 150	new	1st	Government
2016	Giorgi Kvirikashvili	857,394	48.65	115 / 150	30	1st	Government

Presidential

Election year	Candidate	1st round		2nd round
		# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall votes	% of overall vote
2013	Giorgi Margvelashvili	1,012,569	62.12 (#1)
2018	Salome Zurabishvili	615,572	38.64 (#1)	1,147,687	59.52 (#1)

Presidents of Georgia from Georgian Dream

Name	From	To
Giorgi Margvelashvili	17 November 2013	16 December 2018
Salome Zurabishvili	16 December 2018	incumbent

Prime Ministers of Georgia from Georgian Dream

Name	From	To
Bidzina Ivanishvili	25 October 2012	20 November 2013
Irakli Garibashvili	20 November 2013	30 December 2015
Giorgi Kvirikashvili	30 December 2015	13 June 2018
Mamuka Bakhtadze	20 June 2018	2 September 2019
Giorgi Gakharia	8 September 2019	incumbent

Leadership

Party chairmen

• Bidzina Ivanishvili (2012–2013, 2018–present)
• Irakli Garibashvili (2013–2015)
• Giorgi Kvirikashvili (2015–2018)

References

1. "Georgia: political parties and the EU" (PDF). European Parliamentary Research Service.
2. Kakachia, Kornely (2017). The First 100 Days of The Georgian Dream Government: A Reality Check (PDF). Tbilisi, Georgia: Georgian Institute of Politics. One should not forget that, despite having a strong liberal wing, GD views itself as a center-left party and is an observer member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in the European Parliament.
3. "About The Party". 41.ge. Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
4. http://progressive-alliance.info/2810-2/
5. Stephen Jones (2015). "Preface to the Paperback Edition". Georgia: A Political History Since Independence. I.B.Tauris. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-78453-085-3.
6. Ivanishvili's Political Party Launched. Civil Georgia. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
7. Shevchenko hangs up boots for politics, AFP (28 July 2012)
8. Barry, Ellen (2 October 2012). "Georgia's President Concedes Defeat in Parliamentary Election". Georgia (Georgian Republic): NYTimes.com. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
9. "Senior MP Ponders Quitting Georgian Dream". Civil.Ge. civil.ge. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
10. DFWatch Staff (26 April 2018). "Ivanishvili to make political comeback, will head Georgia's ruling GD". Democracy and Freedom Watch. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
11. Genin, Aaron (25 July 2019). "Georgian Protests: Tbilis's Two-Sided Conflict". The California Review. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
12. "Economist's double life on the frontline of Georgia's street protests". Reuters. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
13. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Georgia: Ruling party promises reforms to calm unrest | DW | 25.06.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
14. "Russia threatens more economic pain in standoff with Georgia". Reuters. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
15. "Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior from Georgia, Vietnam and the US". about.fb.com. 20 December 2019.
16. Lortkipanidze, Levan. "Parliamentary Elections in Georgia". ge.boell.org. Heinrich Böll Foundation. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
17. Pertaia, Luka (16 February 2017). "Are Georgia's disparate left-wing protesters consolidating into a coherent political force?". oc-media.org. Georgia (Georgian Republic).
18. Georgia's Ruling Party 'Supermajority' Passes Unilateral Constitutional Reform
19. "Georgian dream doubles down on same-sex marriage ban". Aravot. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
20. Jalagania, Lika (2016). "Legal Situation of LGBTI Persons in Georgia" (PDF). Heinrich Boell Foundation. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center.
21. "The First 100 Days of the Georgian Dream Government: A Reality Check". Georgian Institute of Politics. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
22. "Georgia's election: Pain and grief in Georgia", The Economist, 29 September 2012
23. de Waal, Thomas (11 September 2012), A Crucial Election in Georgia, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
24. de Waal, Thomas (26 September 2012), "Georgia Holds Its Breath", Foreign Policy, archived from the original on 10 November 2013, retrieved 7 March 2017
25. "Topic Galleries". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
26. "Georgia On Brink: Odd Parliamentary Election Leads To Angst Over Results". Ibtimes.com. Retrieved 7 December 2012.

External links

• Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia official website