Political spectrum in Georgia remains polarized

In 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili managed to consolidate a political faction that eventually went on to defeat the United National Movement (UNM). However, despite attempts to establish a third viable political party, the efforts have failed.

For now, there remain two major political forces influencing Georgia’s politics, although the Georgian Dream administration maintains a domineering position. According to the polling of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the Georgian Dream is almost six-times as popular as the UNM.

It is no surprise that only two parties are represented in the parliament. There are a number of non-parliamentary parties that had claimed to have popular support before the parliamentary election in 2012, but the results tell a different story. The votes were largely divided between the two leading political entities.

It is interesting that less than 50% of voters took part in the parliamentary elections last year. So, the likes and dislikes of those who did not participate in the election are not clear. Overall, observations show that the population supports the idea of there being a solid opposition and they prefer this opposition to be diversified.

However, when it came down to voting, the results showed that sympathies are mostly divided between the Georgian Dream and the UNM. There is an opinion among analysts that if the parliamentary elections were held now, the UNM would not have gathered more than 15% of the votes. This of course, would have created room for other oppositional forces to enter parliament.

It is known that Georgian voters have an affinity for charismatic leaders. Maybe those who did not vote are waiting for a charismatic leader to appear on the political scene. However, it will be very disappointing if Georgia moves towards a charismatic leader after all the progress the country has made. Much depends of course on the performance of the current Georgian Dream administration.

Currently, Georgia is preoccupied with the events and processes that some refer to as the “restoration of justice”, while others call it “politically-motivated persecution.”