Fate of non-parliamentary parties

There are two leading political parties in Georgia – the Georgian Dream coalition and the United National Movement. A bi-polar party system remains in the country despite the demand of the third more powerful one.

It is speculated that the current situation meets the interests of both of the parties. Analysts believe that in the case of snap parliamentary elections the UNM and GD would fail to gain enough votes to secure a majority.

The Georgian Dream continues to accuse the previous government of multiple wrongdoings, calling them the “criminal opposition.” However, many analysts admit that the UNM appears to be the guarantor of the Georgian Dream’s power. Analyst Soso Tsiskarishvili states that the “UNM has become a precondition of the Georgian Dream’s success.”

Analyst Khatuna Lagazidze suggests that “if the UNM is destroyed, the GD will also disappear from the political arena,” Lagazidze states.

Lagazidze also believes that the Georgian Dream invented a legend, through which all who criticize the government is a satellite of the UNM.

“They also ensure that any party that emerges before the 2016 parliamentary elections will be backed by the UNM,” Lagazidze says, adding that through this action, the GD tries to further strengthen its position.

Despite the situation, non-parliamentary parties claim that they have started cooperation and intend to become more active players in the future. Head of the Public Alliance for Georgia, Zurab Kharatishvili, stresses that the main reason for the dialogue is an attempt at reaching a solution over the changes in political life. He admits that the current election environment is disastrous, giving all to the victorious party, while all the other parties gain nothing. Kharatishvili also suggests that Georgia should use the proportional system for elections.

After reaching a consensus, in about a month’s time the opposition parties will present their approaches. However, government and the opposition cooperation would be required for undertaking various amendments in the legislation. It is less likely the non-parliamentary opposition will receive any real public support.

As a rule, in such cases, the opposition holds demonstrations, but if people refrain from rallying it might be a mortal stroke for the parties.

The fact is that public trust towards the opposition parties is low and there are no signs of swift changes in this regard.