2024 Georgian parliamentary election

2024 Georgian parliamentary election

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All 150 seats in Parliament 76 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	60.20% ( 4.50pp)[1]
Leader Irakli Kobakhidze Nika Gvaramia Nika Melia Zurab Japaridze Elene Khoshtaria Tina Bokuchava Alliance GD[a] CfC U–NM Leader since 8 February 2024[b] 9 July 2024 8 July 2024 Last election 90 2[c] 39[d] Seats before 83 1 25 Seats won 89 19 16 Seat change 1 17 23 Popular vote 1,120,053 229,161 211,216 Percentage 53.93% 11.03% 10.17% Swing 5.71 pp New 23.95 pp   Leader Mamuka Khazaradze Giorgi Gakharia Alliance SG FG[f] Leader since 17 July 2024 29 May 2021 Last election 6[e] Did not exist Seats before 5 6 Seats won 14 12 Seat change 8 12 Popular vote 182,922 161,521 Percentage 8.81% 7.78% Swing 4.33 pp New
Composition of the Georgian Parliament after the election:   Georgian Dream: 89 seats   Coalition for Change: 19 seats   Unity – National Movement: 16 seats   Strong Georgia: 14 seats   For Georgia: 12 seats
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Election Results
Prime Minister before election Irakli Kobakhidze GD Elected Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze GD

Politics of Georgia
Constitution Constitutional court Human rights LGBT rights
Executive President Salome Zourabichvili Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze
Legislature Parliament Chairperson: Shalva Papuashvili
Judiciary Supreme Court Constitutional Court
Local government Administrative divisions Regions (mkhare) Municipalities
Election Administration Recent elections Parliamentary: 2016 2020 Presidential: 2013 2018 Local: 2017 2021 Political parties
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Ilia Darchiashvili Diplomatic missions of / in Georgia Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Georgia–European Union relations Georgia–NATO relations Georgia–Russia relations Georgia–Ukraine relations
Related topics Rose Revolution United Nations Observer Mission Politics of Abkhazia Politics of South Ossetia
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Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 26 October 2024.^[2][3][4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

In its campaign, the Georgian Dream promoted the Global War Party conspiracy theory, promising "safeguarding peace" through a "pragmatic policy" with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.^{[7][8][9][10]} It repeatedly threated to outlaw most major opposition parties,^[11][12][13] advocated for adopting the "LGBT propaganda law" and strengthening status of Georgian Orthodox Church,^[14] while also joining the European Union based on "Georgian rules".^[15] Ivanishvili also made overtures to the Kremlin, suggesting that Georgia should apologize for the 2008 war, which caused controversy.^[16][17]

During the pre-election period, opposition emphasized what they viewed as GD's pro-Russian shift and its unwillingness to fulfill the criteria set by the European Commission for EU accession, campaigning for the European integration.^[7][18][19] The election was preceded by the 2023–2024 Georgian protests over controversial legislation requiring organizations receiving foreign funding to register as "foreign agents", sparking accusations of authoritarianism.^[20][21] This law has strained relations with the West; the European Union and the United States initiated a variety of measures against the law, including U.S. visa designations and financial sanctions against dozens of Georgian officials and their families,^[22] de facto freezing Georgia's European Union membership candidate status,^[23][24] and proposed U.S. Congress MEGOBARI Act.^[25][26]However, these measures were criticized by some^[who?] as interference in Georgia's internal affairs by the US and EU in order to protect the large network of Western-funded NGOs in Georgia.^{[32][undue weight? – discuss]}

Based on preliminary results published by Central Election Commission of Georgia, Georgian Dream declared victory in the election with more than 53% of the vote, while the four major opposition coalitions—which agreed not to cooperate with Georgian Dream in the parliament through their Georgian Charter—were recorded as receiving 37.79% in total. Georgian Dream posted the highest results in rural areas, particularly in the Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Svaneti, Racha-Lechkhumi, Guria, and Adjara regions, but lost the capital Tbilisi and also Rustavi to the opposition, while only closely winning other major cities. In the capital, GD received 42% of the vote, while the four major opposition coalitions combined received 46%; the smaller libertarian Girchi party won 5.3%. Georgian Dream also dramatically lost to the opposition among the Georgian diaspora.^[33]

The four major opposition coalitions and President Salome Zourabichvili stated that the elections were carried out with vote-buying, ballot-box stuffing, intimidation and pressure on voters. They accused Georgian Dream of "stealing the election", with Zourabichvili refusing to recognize the official results, which she called illegitimate.^[34][33] The opposition announced that it was going to boycott the new parliament.^[35] Observer mission from the International Republican Institute (IRI) has assessed that "Georgia's parliamentary elections were fundamentally flawed", with the IRI president stating that "only new elections can restore the Georgian people's confidence in their government's legitimacy."^[36] The disputed election constituted the first stage of the 2024 Georgian constitutional crisis.^[37][38]

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