Georgia's Parliamentary Elections - a Step Forward?

Abstract

This article reviews the results of Georgia's 2016 parliamentary elections, assesses the pre-electoral environment and discusses the major electoral players. The article concludes that despite the overall satisfactory conduct of parliamentary elections, the political implications might be worrying. Three possible ramifications stand out. First, the elections have produced a highly polarized parliamentary configuration, where the level of political confrontation will be much more intense than it was in the previous four years, thus minimizing the chances for inter-party compromises. Second, with no institutional checks and balances and with the absence of a clear parliamentary counterweight, the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia government might be tempted to abuse power and leave Georgia's nascent institutional democracy in a highly vulnerable state. Third, the liberal and moderately liberal third parties performed particularly badly, which prompted a massive shake-up in the oppositional spectrum.