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Strong Georgia

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Strong Georgia
ძლიერი საქართველო
AbbreviationSG
LeaderMamuka Khazaradze
Key peopleDavid Gamkrelidze (campaign leader)[1]
Founded17 July 2024
HeadquartersTbilisi, Georgia
IdeologyLiberalism[2]
Pro-Europeanism[3]
Factions:
Social democracy[4]
Political positionCentre to centre-left[3]
Constituent partiesLelo
For the People
Citizens
Freedom Square
Colors  Yellow   Blue
Sloganრეალური ალტერნატივა ('Real alternative')
Seats in Parliament
14 / 150
Municipal Councilors
32 / 2,068
Website
dzlieri9.ge

Strong Georgia (Georgian: ძლიერი საქართველო, romanized: dzlieri sakartvelo) is an informal politicial coalition of pro-European political parties in Georgia. Its platform has generally been placed on the centre to centre-left and the alliance includes liberal as well as social democratic factions.

The coalition's constituent members are Mamuka Khazaradze's Lelo for Georgia, Ana Dolidze's For the People, Aleko Elisashvili's Citizens, as well as the political movement Freedom Square led by Levan Tsutskiridze. The alliance also includes other notable politicians such as the former President Giorgi Margvelashvili and former New Rights Party leader David Gamkrelidze.

History

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Leaders of Strong Georgia: Mamuka Khazaradze (top left), Ana Dolidze (top right), Aleko Elisashvili (bottom left), and Levan Tsutskiridze (bottom right)

On July 17 2024, three opposition groups — Mamuka Khazaradze's Lelo for Georgia, Ana Dolidze's For the People, and the newly launched Freedom Square movement — announced their alliance ahead of the October Parliamentary elections. Khazaradze described the choice in the upcoming election as between occupation and entering "the free world". Dolidze emphasized the diversity of the group and their different ideologies, positively comparing it to "Georgian polyphonic music".[5][6]

Since formal electoral blocs were banned, the coalition decided to run its candidates on the party list of Lelo. Lelo was later renamed to 'Strong Georgia: Lelo, For the People, For Freedom!'. On 13 August, Citizens was the fourth and the last subject to join the alliance.[7] The parties in the coalition are signatories to the Georgian Charter initiated by the president Salome Zourabichvili with the aim of uniting the pro-Western opposition parties and setting out goals for a possible future government.[8]

At a special briefing on 16 September, Zourabichvili called for the creation of a "positive, third centre" to provide opposition-leaning and undecided voters a clear choice that would not be affiliated with United National Movement. She expressed hope of uniting Strong Georgia and ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia.[9][10]

On 17 September, Khazaradze and Gakharia met at the President's Orbeliani Palace for negotiations. The following day, Khazaradze noted that while some technical issues remain, both he and Gakharia were united in their goal to remove the ruling Georgian Dream party from power.[11][12][13] On September 19, For Georgia announced via Facebook that the negotiations had collapsed, citing internal disagreements within Strong Georgia.[14] However, Khazaradze, refuted this claim, stating Strong Georgia was ready to sign the deal but was waiting for the President's invitation to finalize it. The reasons cited for the breakdown have been disagreements over equal representation on the joint electoral list and Gakharia's involvement in Gavrilov's Night protest crackdown.[15]

In the parliamentary election, the Strong Georgia bloc received almost 9% of the vote and was granted 9 seats, becoming third largest opposition faction in the Georgian parliament.[16]

Ideology

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Strong Georgia is generally described as a centre to centre-left coalition,[2][3][17][18][19] however, it has also been labeled big tent.[20] The coalition has been described liberal and social liberal.[2][21] The alliance also includes social democratic factions.[4] Its election promises have been described as populist.[19] The coalition is pro-European.[3][4]

On 5 September 2024, the Strong Georgia coalition presented its election plan called "Ilia's way" to the public in Saguramo, in the vicinity of the Ilia Chavchavadze's statue. It promised to construct Anaklia deepwater port and create "200 thousand new jobs", although it did not specify what measures would be taken for this goal. Ana Dolidze presented a plan to increase average income and introduce a formal minimum wage, while Levan Tsutskiridze focused on education reform. The alliance promised to introduce a heavy gambling tax and use the increased budget funds to raise pensions.[22] The leader of the coalition Mamuka Khazaradze has expressed support for Georgian Dream's proposal to make the Georgian Orthodox Church a state religion in Georgia. Khazaradze stated that "Georgia does not and will not exist without the Georgian Orthodox Church".[23]

The coalition stated that it would introduce visa regime for Russian citizens in Georgia, restrict direct flights with Russia, and ban selling agricultural land to Russians. It promised greater attention to European Integration, vowing to establish a special ministry to push for Georgia's accession to the EU, increase trade with the bloc, and create greater opportunities for the youth to move to the European countries through student exchange programs.[20][24]

Electoral performance

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Parliamentary

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Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
2024 Mamuka Khazaradze 182,914 8.81
14 / 150
 New 4th Opposition
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References

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  1. ^ "„ძლიერი საქართველოს" საარჩევნო შტაბს დავით გამყრელიძე უხელმძღვანელებს". Publika (in Georgian). 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  2. ^ a b c Wojciech Wojtasiewicz (9 October 2024). "Georgia Facing Key Parliamentary Elections". The Polish Institute Of International Affairs.
  3. ^ a b c d Ross Gower (10 September 2024). "Georgian 2024 Election- A Pivotal Moment for NATO and EU Membership". Center for International Strategic Analyses (KEDISA). The 'Strong Georgia' electoral faction, made up of centre and centre-left pro-EU parties is projected to make significant inroads and win around 12-13% of the vote.
  4. ^ a b c Jan Jakob Langer (23 October 2024). "Fateful elections in Georgia: An end to the nightmare?". Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
  5. ^ "ლელო, ანა დოლიძის პარტია და მოძრაობა თავისუფლების მოედანი საარჩევნოდ გაერთიანდნენ". Tabula (in Georgian). 17 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Three More Opposition Groups Join Forces Ahead of Crucial Elections". Civil Georgia. 2024-07-17. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  7. ^ "Aleko Elisashvili of "Citizens" Joins Coalition "Strong Georgia"". Civil Georgia. 17 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Opposition Parties Sign Georgian Charter". Civil Georgia. 3 June 2024.
  9. ^ "President Zurabishvili Announces Lelo-led Strong Georgia and Gakharia's Party to Join Forces for Elections". Civil Georgia. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  10. ^ "President calls on Mamuka Khazaradze, Giorgi Gakharia to unite their parties". Georgian Public Broadcaster. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  11. ^ "Mamuka Khazaradze: Negotiations on electoral alliance with Gakharia's party not yet finalized". Georgian Public Broadcaster. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  12. ^ "Gakharia on negotiations: Our position is clear; Khazaradze seeks more time to address key issues". Georgian Public Broadcaster. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  13. ^ "ხაზარაძე-გახარიას შეხვედრა პრეზიდენტთან". TV Formula (in Georgian). Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  14. ^ "For Georgia Announcement". Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  15. ^ "Lelo-Led Strong Georgia, Gakharia's For Georgia Fail to Agree on Election Alliance". Civil Georgia. 2024-09-19. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  16. ^ "Among the 5 parties that passed the threshold, 148 mandates were distributed with the so-called real votes, and 2 undistributed mandates were shared by "Georgian Dream" with the best result and Gvaramia-Melia coalition". Interpressnews. 29 October 2024.
  17. ^ Jan Jakob Langer (24 October 2024). "Will Georgia Flip? A High-Stakes Election Amidst Political Polarisation". Europe Elects.
  18. ^ "Georgia: Political parties at a glance". PolitPro.
  19. ^ a b "The opposition groups hoping to take over in Georgia". Macau News Agency. 22 October 2024.
  20. ^ a b Olga Dmitrieva (4 October 2024). "The hijacking of Europa. Cutting ties with EU, Georgia's ruling party sees its ratings plummet but remains ahead of opposition". The Insider.
  21. ^ Jelger Groeneveld (21 October 2024). "In Georgia, elections are about democracy itself". Platform RAAM.
  22. ^ ""ილიას გზა" - "ძლიერმა საქართველომ" საარჩევნო გეგმა წარადგინა" (in Georgian). Radio Liberty. 5 September 2024.
  23. ^ "ვემხრობით კონსტიტუციაში ეკლესიის როლის მკაფიოდ დაფიქსირებას - ხაზარაძე". Radio Freedom. 1 September 2024.
  24. ^ ""ილიას გზა" - "ძლიერმა საქართველომ" საარჩევნო გეგმა წარადგინა" (in Georgian). Radio Liberty. 5 September 2024.
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