Hazar Raporu - Issue 02 - Winter 2012

Parliamentary elections as a litmus
test of Georgian Democracy
The recent parliamentary election (1,
October 2012) marked an important point
in the country’s history, as it signposted
the first ever peaceful transfer of power,
an achievement that reflects positively
was that the opposition stood little chance
of winning. This certainty was attributed
both to the use of administrative resources
by the ruling party and to ideological
splits within the opposition bloc headed
by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. The
expectation was that Georgian Dream
would secure sufficient votes to avoid yet
Source: Civil Georgia. Parliamentary elections 2012
on the consolidation of its democratic
transition. In Georgia’s most competitive
elections to date, there were 14 political
parties and two blocks participating. As
expected, the major battle was between
the ruling United National Movement
(UNM) and the main opposition, the
Georgian Dream (GD) coalition. Prior to
the prison abuse scandal 4 , the general view
4 Simon Shuster. Inside the Prison That Beat a President: How
Georgia’s Saakashvili Lost His Election. Time. October 2,2012
Available at: http://world.time.com/2012/10/02/inside-theprison-that-beat-a-president-how-georgias-saakashvili-lost-hiselection/
another revolution but not enough to gain
a significant role in the formation of the
government. However, the record number
of Georgians who turned out to elect a
new 150-member Parliament for a fouryear
term voted overwhelmingly for the
opposition. With the final votes counted,
the UNM’s 40.3 per cent was swamped
by the GD’s massive 54.9 per cent. 5 Sadly,
the battle between the two major political
forces left no room for smaller political
5 Civil Georgia. Parliament seats by current CEC data: Available
at: http://www.civil.ge/eng/category.phpid=32
CASPIAN REPORT
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