Presidential election in Georgia 2013

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Standard of the President of Georgia

The 2013 presidential election in Georgia ( Georgian საქართველოს საპრეზიდენტო არჩევნები 2013 - sakartvelos saprezidento archevnebi 2013 ) took place on October 27th. It was the sixth in the history of the second Georgian republic since 1991. The incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili was constitutionally banned from running after two legislative terms. Former Minister of Education Giorgi Margwelashvili received 62.1% of the votes cast.

Following a constitutional amendment initiated by Saakashvili himself in 2010, the new president has fewer powers. The President still has core competencies in foreign and security policy and representative functions.

background

Saakashvili at the 48th Munich Security Conference 2012

Saakashvili came to power in the course of the Rose Revolution of 2003 , when then President Eduard Shevardnadze was forced to resign. Oriented towards the west and with the intent to fight corruption, lead Georgia into NATO and the European Union and promote the reintegration of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , he contributed to a spirit of optimism in the former Soviet Union republic . This happened to the resentment of Russia , which regards Georgia as a " near abroad ". In 2006 Russia banned Georgian imports "because of poor hygiene standards", whereupon the sales market collapsed by 80 percent; Georgia has not participated in the meetings of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is largely dictated by Russia, since February 2006 ; there were simplified naturalizations of South Ossetians and Abkhazians by Russia, which Georgia viewed as an affront. The situation came to a head until the Caucasus War in summer 2008 . As a result, Georgia declared its exit from the CIS on August 14, 2008, which became legally effective on August 18, 2009.

Domestically, Saakashvili carried out some administrative and economic reforms; per capita income rose from US $ 700 (2003) to US $ 1,500 (2007) annually. In 2006, the World Bank ranked Georgia among the top reform countries in the world. Rising incomes were accompanied by enormous inflation . Radical economic reforms and the dismantling of the Georgian black market made thousands of people unemployed . The official unemployment rate in 2013 was 15 percent; Experts suspected an actual rate of up to 50 percent. According to a report by the World Bank, 32 percent of the population lived on less than US $ 2.5 a day in 2014 ( 2005 purchasing power parity ).

In the parliamentary elections on March 28, 2004, Saakashvili's party, the United National Movement , founded in 2001 , received 67.75% of the vote.

Mass protests 2007: white bracelets symbolize dissatisfaction

Although the president had declared war on corruption and Georgia improved from 99 in the corruption index of Transparency International in 2004 to today's rank 51, he and his government were repeatedly suspected of being corrupt themselves. The opposition repeatedly accused the president of an authoritarian regime and his ministers of confusing private interests and public offices; although the replacement of a large part of the police and stricter selection procedures almost eliminated everyday corruption, the corruption prevailing at a higher level was hardly combated. Law enforcement agencies have repeatedly used law to eliminate opposition groups and cover up criminal acts by members of the government. The sudden death of the former Prime Minister Zurab Schwania in Tbilisi and the exact circumstances of the murder of the bank official Sandro Girgwliani , for whom subordinate employees of the Ministry of the Interior were convicted, which, however, was a previous verbal argument with senior officials of the Ministry, have not yet been clarified went; after the liquidation scandal and the mass protests (co) launched by the opposition in 2007, this culminated in Saakashvili's resignation and two early elections: the presidential election and the parliamentary election the following year.

Saakashvili and his party were re-elected with a narrow majority. The referendum held in parallel for a continuation of NATO integration strengthened his policy. Politically, however, there were deep rifts: the country is not only deeply divided between supporters and opponents of Saakashvili; he fell out with Nino Burjanadze , a former companion of the Rose Revolution, who advanced to become an opposition politician and, with her party, Democratic Movement - United Georgia, is considered the government's harshest critic; In 2011 there were again mass protests and with the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and his newly founded party alliance Georgian Dream , a new comrade came onto the political stage.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, 2012

In the parliamentary elections on October 1, 2012 , there was a change of power when the “Georgian Dream” party alliance received an absolute majority of votes and mandates. For many, the billionaire Ivanishvili’s party was seen as a beacon of hope that Saakashvili felt too tightly controlled. For example, telephones and computers were monitored around the clock across the country; harsh penalties for minor offenses resulted in overcrowded prisons, political opponents were deprived of their citizenship and prisoners were ill-treated. The economy and the media were under the control of the Saakashvili clan, and television stations were given lists of what should be covered and where in the news.

Candidates

There were over fifty candidacies, 23 of which were eligible for election. The most promising candidates were:

Election mode

There were 3,537,719 Georgians in Germany and around 50,000 abroad who had the right to vote in the representations before the election and could vote there. The polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. CET). More than 50 percent of the votes were necessary for a victory in the first ballot. The term of office is five years.

Campaign donations

Political party
Sum in euros
Georgian dream approx. 2,000,000
United National Movement 70,000
Democratic Movement - United Georgia 400,000

Source: Konrad Adenauer Foundation

Result

Results by constituency. Margvelashvili won a relative majority in all constituencies, and an absolute majority in most constituencies. Share of votes for Margwelaschwili: > 40–50% > 50–60% > 60–70% > 70–80% > 90%





Candidates Political party
be right %
Giorgi Margwelashvili Georgian dream 1,012,214 62.11%
Dawit Bakradse United National Movement 354.206 21.73%
Nino Burjanadze Democratic Movement - United Georgia 165.933 10.18%
Shalva Natelashvili Georgian Labor Party 46,958 2.88%
Giorgi Targamadze Christian Democratic Movement of Georgia 17,343 1.06%
Koba Davitashvili Georgian People's Party 9,850 0.60%
Zurab Charatišvili European Democrats of Georgia 3,724 0.23%
Levan Chachna - 3,093 0.19%
Nino Tschanischwili - 2,278 0.14%
Sergo Javachidze Movement for a fair Georgia 2,108 0.13%
Giorgi Liluashvili - 1,909 0.12%
Akaki Asatiani Union of Georgian Traditionalists 1,568 0.10%
Micheil Saluashvili - 1,376 0.08%
Teimuraz Mshawia Christian Democratic People's Party of Georgia 1,299 0.08%
Mamuka Melikishvili - 994 0.06%
Giorgi Tschichladze - 863 0.05%
Nestan Kirtadze - 764 0.05%
Tamas Bibiluri - 687 0.04%
Nugsar Awaliani - 663 0.04%
Awtandil Margiani - 628 0.04%
Kartlos Gharibashvili - 530 0.03%
Teimuras Bobochidze - 364 0.02%
Mamuka Tschochonelidze - 332 0.02%
total 1,661,273 100%
Valid votes - -
Invalid votes - -
Registered voters 3,537,719
voter turnout 46.96%

Source: results.cec.gov.ge. Retrieved October 28, 2013 .

be right

politics

“I think we have achieved a lot in the last 10 years and we have established Georgia in the world as a successful, modern and rapidly developing European country. I see that as our most important legacy. "

- Mikheil Saakashvili after casting his vote in the press

Press

“Georgia seems to be on the way to becoming a democratic state with a fairly normal political life, after more than 20 years of wars and revolutions. But it wouldn't be Georgia if political turmoil didn't threaten. "

- Silvia Stöber : tagesschau.de

“There were undoubtedly remarkable changes under Saakashvili in a positive sense. There have been a number of administrative and economic reforms that have changed Georgia. But there were also some harmful side effects. The political system has not necessarily moved towards democracy. "

- Caucasus expert Uwe Halbach : Radio: Voice of Russia

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b tagesschau.de: Election to succeed President Saakashvili. All quiet - that wouldn't be Georgia ( memento of October 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) , October 24, 2013
  2. ↑ Spiegel Online October 28, 2013: Georgia has voted: The era of President Saakashvili is over
  3. ^ "Constitution of Georgia (2010 amendments)" (pdf; 0.2 MB)
  4. ↑ a b c d Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Presidential Elections in Georgia - A New Political Beginning? October 28, 2013
  5. ↑ a b Tagesspiegel: The country absolutely had to start a war , October 25, 2013
  6. ↑ NEWSru.com October 23, 2008: Грузия официально уйдет из СНГ в августе 2009 года
  7. ↑ a b c d Radio Voice of Russia : Presidential Election in Georgia. The end of the Saakashvili era , October 24, 2013
  8. ↑ Reuters: FACTBOX: Georgia's Saakashvili divides country , November 7, 2007
  9. ↑ Tagesspiegel: 40 percent of Georgians still live below the poverty line , October 25, 2013
  10. ↑ worldbank.org: Georgia Poverty Assessment - Fiscal Year 2016 (Summary); full report here (pdf, 4 MB)
  11. ↑ South German: Departure of Saakashvili in Georgia - The Better Bad , October 24, 2013
  12. ↑ a b Süddeutsche: Departure of Saakashvili in Georgia - Prudent negotiation is not one of his strengths , October 25, 2013
  13. ↑ Wikinews: Another death of a politician in Georgia , February 5, 2005
  14. ↑ NZZ.ch October 25, 2013: A president without charisma
  15. ↑ 2013 Presidential Candidates. civil.ge, accessed on October 27, 2013 (English).
  16. ↑ results.cec.gov.ge. gov.ge, accessed October 28, 2013 (Georgian).
  17. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Polling stations open - Georgia elects a new president , October 27, 2013
  18. ^ Deutsche Welle: Margwelashvili to be the new President of Georgia , October 28, 2013