Parliamentary election in Georgia 2012

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 %

60

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

54.92
( n. K. )

40.22
(-18.96)

2.02
(-6.64)

1.24
(-6.20)

0.44
(-17.29)

1.03
(-5.96)

KO

ENM

KDM

SLP

AM ^e

Otherwise.

2008



2012



Remarks:

^e Comparative value 2008: United National Council

The parliamentary elections in Georgia in 2012 took place on October 1, 2012. This was the 7th parliamentary election since Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In the elections, the newly founded Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party run by businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili won an absolute majority of votes and seats in April of that year .

In front of a polling station in Poti

Political starting point

The last parliamentary elections in 2008 were won by the United National Movement under its chairman and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with a three-quarters majority. The opposition parties spoke of election fraud after their defeat, but the vast majority of international election observers confirmed that there had been no major irregularities. In the following years, Saakashvili was therefore able to rely on a comfortable parliamentary majority. The most momentous event during his reign was the military conflict with Russia in August 2008. This conflict sparked off when Georgia attempted to win back South Ossetia , which was under Russian protection and not internationally recognized as an independent state, in a military offensive. Even if the action was popular with the Georgian people, it was a disaster for Georgia. The Georgian troops were repulsed by the Russian troops within a few days and the war also left severe damage on Georgian soil. Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia and Russia recognized the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states (de facto as Russia's satellite states ). In 2009 and 2011 there were multiple mass demonstrations by the opposition against Saakashvili. On October 15, 2010, the Georgian parliament passed five amendments to the Georgian constitution with a large majority. These amendments provide for the constitution to be amended so that the president has fewer powers and the position of the prime minister and the government is strengthened instead. This constitutional amendment should come into force with the election of the next president, which is scheduled for 2013. In addition, it was decided to move the parliamentary seat from the capital Tbilisi to the second largest city of Kutaisi . This is intended to serve decentralization. On May 26, 2012, the parliament held its first session in the half-finished new parliament building.

Shortly before the election date, videos appeared on the Internet showing the torture of inmates in Georgian prisons. The events were condemned by all political parties and led to mass protests, especially in Tbilisi. Prison guards and leaders were arrested.

Parties

The United National Movement under Mikheil Saakashvili faced 9 opposition parties. On October 7, 2011, businessman and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili publicly announced his intention to found a political party. In a statement, Ivanishvili said that in addition to dual Georgian and Russian citizenship, he also had a French passport. As a result, his Georgian citizenship was revoked. Shortly afterwards, the Georgian parliament decided that citizens of the European Community can also be elected as members. On April 19, 2012, Ivanishvili founded the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia (ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო) party and began the election campaign on May 27, 2012. Ivanishvili's political goals include relaxation in relation to Russia in the political and economic area, which is why he was promptly referred to by the pro-government press as " Vladimir Putin's agent ". Ivanishvili promised to give up his French and Russian citizenship and sell his holdings in Russia if he wins the election. He accused President Saakashvili of abuse of power and accused him of wanting to continue to determine the country's politics as Prime Minister after the end of his second term in early 2013.

• Party politician
• 

  Wano Merabishvili
  ( United National Movement )

• 

  Bidzina Ivanishvili
  ( Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia )

• 

  Kacha Kukawa
  ( Conservative Party of Georgia )

Election mode

Constituency division

3,613,851 people were eligible to vote, including 305,315 Georgians abroad, of whom only 43,176 registered at Georgian consulates. The number of parliamentary seats was 150, of which 73 were elected in individual constituencies. The remaining 77 seats were filled according to the proportional share of the votes of the parties via party lists. There was a 5 percent threshold . The electoral districts had very different numbers of voters, the largest ( Kutaisi ) comprised 162,732 voters, the smallest (the large, but sparsely populated region of Kazbegi ) only had 5,810 voters.

Survey

At the beginning of February 2012, a survey by the US National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) was carried out in Georgia . Accordingly, the United National Movement came to 47%, the Georgian Dream to 10% and the Christian Democrats to 3%. In May, a poll was published on behalf of the International Republican Institute (IRI) - the United National Movement received 45%, the Georgian Dream 15% and the Christian Democrats 9%. The Georgian Dream accused the US polls of wanting to support and legitimize the possible falsification of the elections by the party of the incumbent Georgian president. In July, Penn Schoen Berland conducted a poll on parliamentary elections in Georgia - the Georgian Dream got 42% and the United National Movement got 41%. According to the ruling party, the poll was faked. In August, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner published a poll on the general election - the United National Movement got 46%, the Georgian Dream 24% and the Christian Democrats 5%. One month before the parliamentary elections, an NDI poll was published. According to this, the party of the incumbent President Mikhail Saakashvili had 37%, the Georgian dream, however, only came to 12%. The opposition protested again against the poll results of the US election research institutes. Forsa conducted the last poll before the elections . According to the German polling institute, the Georgian Dream received 49%, the United National Movement 43% and the Christian Democrats 6%.

Irregularities during the election

Shortly after the polling stations closed, special forces of the Georgian police stormed polling stations in the Chaschuri district . Observers were evicted and election protocols were "changed". According to reports from the local observer group Transparency International Georgia , the Georgian dream in Chaschuri was well ahead of the polling stations by the government's special forces. The then published local election result then showed a victory for the United National Movement . That same night, there were serious clashes between police units and residents of Chaschuri. There were also irregularities at some polling stations in Gori and Sighnaghi . The official election result showed a victory for the candidates of Saakashvili's United National Movement .

Under pressure from the opposition, new elections were held in some polling stations in Chaschuri , Gori and Sighnaghi . In Gori the Georgian Dream got 91.9% of the vote, in Chashuri 93.6% and in Sighnaghi 85.97%. The ruling party remained far behind and received 7.41% of the vote in Gori and 14.03% of the vote in Sighnaghi. In Chaschuri, the candidate of the United National Movement renounced his candidacy.

Results

Immediately after the election, both main opponents, Saakashvili and Ivanishvili, claimed victory for themselves. After initial preliminary results, however, it became apparent that the Georgian dream of Ivanishvili had won the election and Saakashvili admitted the defeat of his party on October 2. The turnout was 59.8%, a little higher than in the 2008 parliamentary elections (53.9% at the time). The turnout was highest in the capital Tbilisi, where around a quarter of all Georgians live and which is a stronghold of the opposition to Saakashvili. The international reactions to the election victory of the Ivanishvili party were largely positive. The EU Commission , US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the election winner. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) described the elections as free and democratic, but also deplored an atmosphere of intimidation.

In the end, only two parties were represented in the newly elected parliament, Saakashvili's United National Movement and Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream . All other parties failed at the 5% hurdle.

The opposition won in every major city in the country except Zugdidi . In Tbilisi the opposition reached 72%, in Kutaisi 57.4%, in Batumi 65.4%, in Rustavi 56.3%, in Gori 47.9%, in Poti 58.6%, in Samtredia 65.0%, in Chaschuri 58.2%. The Georgian Dream achieved a particularly high result of over 90% in the constituency of Satschere , where Ivanishvili was born and has often worked as a philanthropist (i.e. financier of schools, churches, hospitals and other public buildings). The party of the incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili got the most votes in Lower Cartlia and Samtskhe-Javakheti , where Armenians and Azerbaijanis make up the majority of the population. In Ninozminda the United National Movement won with 79.59% of the votes, in Marneuli 78.9%, in Akhalkalaki 76.5%, in Akhaltsikhe 75.0%, in Aspindsa 71.4%, in Zalka 67.8%, in Dmanissi 69.8%, in Bolnissi 67.0%.

66.3% of the Georgians abroad voted for the Georgian Dream and 28.1% for the United National Movement . Of the Georgians living in Germany, the Georgian Dream got 77.3% of the vote, the President's party got 18%.

Nationwide results

Composition of the newly elected Georgian Parliament:

Georgian Dream (87)

United National Movement (63)

Political party		Party list			Constituencies		Total seats	+/-
		be right	%	Seats	Seats	%
	Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia (ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო)	1,179,930	54.92%	44	43	58.9%	87	+ 087
	United National Movement (ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა)	867.102	40.22%	33	30th	41.1%	63	- 056
	Christian Democrats (ქრისტიანულ-დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა)	43,913	2.04%	0	0	0%	0	- 06
	Georgian Labor Party (საქართველოს ლეიბორისტული პარტია)	26,674	1.24%	0	0	0%	0	- 06
	New Civil Rights Party (ახალი მემარჯვენეები)	9,297	0.44%	0	0	0%	0	- 017th
	Free Georgia	1,024	0.05%	0	0	0%	0	± 00
	Other	20,996	0.98%	0	0	0%	0	± 00
Invalid votes		19,945	-	-	-	-	-	-
total		3,613,851	100.00%	77	73	100.0%	150	-
Voter and turnout		2,148,936	59.79%	-	-	-	-	-
Source: Central Electoral Commission of Georgia

Results by constituency

• 

  Relative share of votes for the Georgian dream :
• > 10-20%
• > 20-30%
• > 30-40%
• > 40-50%
• > 50-60%
• > 60-70%
• > 70-80%
• > 80-90%
• > 90%
• 

  Relative share of votes for the United National Movement :
• ≤10%
• > 10-20%
• > 20-30%
• > 30-40%
• > 40-50%
• > 50-60%
• > 60-70%
• > 70-80%

Results by region

Name of the region	Georgian dream	United National Movement
Adjara	57.6%	37%
Guria	58.8%	37.3%
Mingrelia and Upper Svaneti	35.6%	55.4%
Ratscha-Letschchumi and Lower Swanetia	46.5%	48.6%
Imereti	58.1%	37.5%
Mzcheta-Mtianeti (without Akhalgori municipality )	63.4%	32.7%
Inner Cartlia (excluding Tskhinvali City and Jawa Municipality )	52.2%	42.61%
Kakheti	48.1%	47.1%
Niederkartlien	38.81%	57.1%
Samtskhe Javakheti	29.5%	67.1%
Tbilisi	72.4%	28.8%
All in all	55.0%	40.3%

Individual evidence

1. ^ First International Reaction on Georgia's Polls , Civil.ge, accessed September 29, 2012
2. ↑ Germany Hails Georgian Polls , Civil.ge, accessed September 29, 2012
3. ↑ Solana Hail's 'Peaceful Conduct' of Polls , Civil.ge, accessed September 29, 2012
4. ^ New Constitution Adopted. civil.ge, October 15, 2010, accessed on September 29, 2012 . 
5. ↑ MPs to Hold Session in Partially Constructed Parliament Building in Kutaisi on May 26. civil.ge, accessed on September 29, 2012 (English). 
6. ^ Videos of Inmates Abuse, Rape Emerge. civil.ge, September 19, 2012, accessed on September 29, 2012 . 
7. ↑ Torture videos sparked protests. tagesschau.de, September 20, 2012, archived from the original on September 23, 2012 ; Retrieved September 30, 2012 (video no longer available). 
8. ^ Four More Prison Officials Arrested. civil.ge, September 27, 2012, accessed on September 29, 2012 . 
9. ^ ^{A b} Billionaire Outlines Political Goals. civil.ge, October 7, 2011, accessed September 29, 2012 . 
10. ↑ BBC News - Saakashvili foe Ivanishvili loses Georgian citizenship. BBC.co.uk, October 11, 2011, accessed March 23, 2019 . 
11. ^ Mass opposition rally in Tbilisi, Georgia. BBC News, May 27, 2012, accessed September 21, 2012 . 
12. ↑ Parliamentary elections Hundreds of thousands demonstrate against the Georgian government. Zeit Online, September 30, 2012, accessed September 30, 2012 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} CEC: Number of Voters 3,613,851. civil.ge, September 29, 2012, accessed on September 29, 2012 . 
14. ^ New Electoral System Outlined. civil.ge, June 27, 2011, accessed on September 29, 2012 . 
15. ^ Reports of Masked Men Breaking into Polling Stations in Khashuri. civil.ge, October 2, 2012, accessed on November 23, 2012 . 
16. ^ Riot Police Faked Election Results in Khashuri. humanrights.ge, October 2, 2012, accessed on November 23, 2012 . 
17. ↑ Results of the new elections. saqinform.ge, October 15, 2012, accessed November 23, 2012 . 
18. ^ Saakashvili Concedes Defeat in Parliamentary Election. (No longer available online.) Civil.ge, October 2, 2012, archived from the original on January 7, 2013 ; accessed on October 2, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
19. ↑ CEC: Voter Turnout 60.8%. October 2, 2012, accessed October 2, 2012 . 
20. ↑ After victory in parliamentary elections: Foreign countries believe in the Georgian dream. tagesschau.de, October 3, 2012, archived from the original on October 5, 2012 ; Retrieved October 3, 2012 .