Hazar Raporu - Issue 02 - Winter 2012

The Aftermath of Georgia’s Parliamentary
Election: Foreign Policy and the Search
for a New Paradigm
Doç. Dr. Kornely Kakachia
Associate Professor at Tbilisi State University and Director of Tbilisi-based
think tank Georgian Institute of Politics
Introduction
For nearly two decades, more than
any other country in the post-Soviet
space, Georgia has been struggling to
develop stable political institutions
and a functional democratic system.
Consequently, the establishment of a
sustainable, legally regulated system of
governance has been central to Georgia’s
aspiration to become a fully-fledged
member of the democratic family of
nations, a goal that is consistently upheld
by politicians of all affiliations. 1 Indeed,
in the initial stages following the Rose
Revolution, Georgia outdid its post-
Soviet counterparts in attacking the
problem of weak, corrupt governance. It
had outstanding success in rebuilding - or
rather building - robust state institutions
and in eliminating low-level official
corruption. On the surface, it seemed
1 Salome Tsereteli-Stephens, Caucasus Barometer: Rule of
Law in Georgia - Opinion and Attitudes of the Population 27.6.
2011, http://crrccenters.org/activities/reports/.
that Georgia was poised to consolidate
its democratic gains. As many Georgiawatchers
noted, “in many respects, the
conditions for democracy today are more
favorable in post-revolution Georgia than
in any other democratizing country” 2 .
However, the biggest obstacle to its
unconsolidated democracy has been the
absence of any kind of social or political
movement sufficiently powerful to
counterbalance the government. Although
the legislative framework has changed
significantly over the last few years,
the application of democratic electoral
processes remains a serious challenge 3 .
But, as current developments in Georgian
politics demonstrate, the situation may be
changing.
2 Lincoln A. Mitchell. Democracy in Georgia Since the Rose
Revolution. Orbis. 2006. P.671
3 Kornely Kakachia. Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections: THE
START OF A PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER PO-
NARS Eurasia Policy memo. No. 230. September 2012.
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