Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a conservative and populist political party in Georgia, which has ruled the country since 2012. Bidzina Ivanishvili, who founded the party on 19 April 2012 and is widely considered to be the de facto leader of Georgia, serves as the party's honorary chairman. The party's electoral number is 41.
The party won the general election in 2012, being part of an eclectic coalition also called Georgian Dream, which included both pro-Western liberal and anti-NATO nationalist parties. Subsequently, the Georgian Dream party (independent of its coalition) also won all subsequent general elections and is a ruling party of the country.
Georgian Dream originally declared itself a centre-left, pro-European party and held rather conservative social views. It was originally an observer member of the Party of European Socialists (PES). However, over time it moved in an explicitly culturally conservative, illiberal, and Eurosceptic direction, leading to its expulsion by PES in 2023. It is today described as a "left-conservative" or syncretic party, despite remaining to the left on fiscal matters. In foreign policy, the party officially supports a balancing act between European integration and pragmatic relations with the Russian Federation. Their opponents have accused the party of anti-Western and pro-Russia foreign policy, with the party denying the allegations.
Georgian Dream has promoted conspiracy theories, including claims about a deep state, shadow government, globalists, freemasons, Great Replacement, George Soros, and a "Global War Party". It has also passed legislation considered by the United States and European Union as contradicting the EU and NATO membership policies. In 2024, the U.S. sanctioned leading Georgian Dream officials for "undermining democracy", "violating human rights, and working for the benefit of the Russian Federation". GD leaders have also been sanctioned by several EU member states for similar reasons.Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia Sanction Ivanishvili, MIA Officials, Civil Georgia: 2 December 2024.
History Political context By 2011, the United National Movement government led by the President Mikheil Saakashvili had become increasingly unpopular during its rule since 2004 for its neoliberal economic policy and extremely punitive criminal justice system. The violent dispersal of the 2007 and 2011 demonstrations, scandals such as the 2006 Sandro Girgvliani murder case and the loss of territories through the 2008 Russo-Georgian War contributed to the party's increasing loss of support among the general populace. A range of other infringements on privacy and legal rights in combination with intimidation and coercion of the business sector added to the grievances.
Given this context, Bidzina Ivanishvili, an oligarch primarily known for charity work and contributions to public projects, decided to step out of the shadow and lead the political opposition against Saakashvili by uniting the opposition, mobilizing popular support and subsequently capitalizing on the public discontent.
Foundation
In December 2011, Ivanishvili launched the Georgian Dream movement as a platform for his political activities and staged several mass demonstrations against the Saakashvili government. Four months later, on 21 April 2012, Georgian Dream was launched as a political party. Since Ivanishvili was not a Georgian citizen at the moment of the party's inaugural session, lawyer Manana Kobakhidze was elected as an interim, nominal chairman of the party.
The party also included several notable people such as the politician Sozar Subari, former diplomat Tedo Japaridze, chess grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili, writer Guram Odisharia and famed footballer Kakha Kaladze, which helped it consolidate support. The name of the party was inspired by a rap song of Ivanishvili's son Bera.
On 21 February 2012, Ivanishvili announced the formation of a coalition centered around his party, together with Republican Party of Georgia, Our Georgia – Free Democrats, and National Forum, pledging to increase welfare spending and to pursue a more pragmatic approach with Russia while maintaining a pro-Western and pro-NATO foreign policy. In subsequent months, two other opposition parties joined the coalition: the Conservative Party of Georgia and Industry Will Save Georgia.
First term: coalition rule (2012–2016)
The six-party Georgian Dream coalition led by Ivanishvili successfully challenged the ruling United National Movement in the 2012 parliamentary election. It won 54.97% of the vote, while UNM received 40.34%, granting the coalition a majority of 85 seats in parliament. The remaining 65 seats went to UNM. President Saakashvili conceded the loss and pledged to support the constitutional process of forming a new government. This was the first democratic transfer of power in Georgia. The election also marked the beginning of the transition from a presidential system to a parliamentary system of government.
On 25 October 2012, Ivanishvili was elected as the prime minister of Georgia. He had requested Saakashvili to step down as president, but the latter decided to complete his final term, which meant an uneasy political cohabitation throughout 2013. The new government introduced the State Universal Healthcare Program, making emergency surgeries and childbirth free of charge, increased welfare spending, and initiated reforms on self-governance, law enforcement agencies, and agriculture. Georgian Dream additionally began to persecute former government and opposition officials on charges of corruption, abuse of power, and torture.
In October 2013, Georgian Dream nominated candidate, a Sartre scholar, Giorgi Margvelashvili won the presidential election in the first round with 61.1% of the vote. Saakashvili soon left the country amid threats that he too would be persecuted. Having looked over the transfer of power, Ivanishvili stepped down as prime minister, formally quitting the political arena, while running the government from behind the scenes.
Ivanishvili was succeeded by Irakli Garibashvili, under whose tenure Georgia made major steps towards European Union integration. In June 2014 Georgia signed the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, both of which were initiated under the Saakashvili-led government. Meanwhile, cracks appeared within the Georgian Dream coalition. Free Democrats left the coalition in November 2014 when Defence Minister Irakli Alasania, a member of the party, was fired by Garibashvili. Soon after becoming president, Margvelashvili's relations with the parliamentary wing of the party became strained as he was critical of what he saw as Georgian Dream's consolidation of power. He was the first president in Georgia's history not to seek reelection for a second term.
Prime Minister Garibashvili was succeeded in December 2015 by Giorgi Kvirikashvili, whose government focused on economic growth as well as strengthening relations with the West. The European Commission recommended visa-free travel for the citizens of Georgia to the Schengen Area, with the European Council and the European Parliament giving the final approval in 2017.
Second term: absolute majority (2016–2020)
Prior to the 2016 parliamentary election, it was announced in March 2016 that the Georgian Dream coalition would be dissolved as its members decided to run separately in the election. Following this, the National Forum left the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority in April 2016, while four other parties formally remained in the majority group until the election.
Despite the coalition falling apart, Kvirikashvili led Georgian Dream to a landslide victory in the 2016 Georgian parliamentary election, winning a constitutional majority of 115 seats out of 150. Utilizing their supermajority, Georgian Dream made grand amendments to the constitution, such as completing the transition to a parliamentary system and the abolition of the direct presidential elections.
In April 2018, Ivanishvili returned to politics when he was appointed the chairman of the Georgian Dream party. His comeback was taken for granted as he had retained overwhelming sway over the party ever since his formal resignation in 2013. Prime Minister Kvirikashvili suddenly resigned in June 2018, claiming "disagreements with the leader of the ruling party" as the reason for his resignation. He was succeeded by a political newcomer Mamuka Bakhtadze.
In August 2018, the Chairman of the Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the party would not nominate a candidate for the 2018 presidential elections. Instead, it would endorse the independent candidate Salome Zourabichvili. After a stronger than expected performance from the opposition in the first round, Ivanishvili put together a scheme in which the debts of 600,000 Georgians would be written-off and covered by his charity, in an attempt to secure Zourabichvili's victory. It was considered "an unprecedented case of vote-bribing". The government supported scheme was enough to boost Georgian Dream's popularity and give Zourabichvili a victory in the second round.
Gavrilov's Night
The summer of 2019 set off a prolonged period of political unrest and civil discontent with Georgian Dream's rule. On 20 June 2019, Parliament of Georgia hosted the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, an organization set up by the Greek parliament to unite Orthodox Christian lawmakers worldwide. With both Russia and Georgia being members of the organization, the Russian delegation arrived to take part in the session in the Georgian parliament. The session was opened with a speech from Sergei Gavrilov, a Russian lawmaker from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, whilst sitting in the chair of the Head of Parliament.
Opposition members said it was denigrating of Georgian sovereignty and completely unacceptable that Gavrilov presided over a session in Georgian parliament, as a representative of the occupying power with a history of casting anti-Georgia votes. The opposition called for protests in front of the parliament building. Some representatives of Georgian Dream said the action of Gavrilov was a provocation and claimed the session should have been chaired by the Greek deputy Anastasios Nerantzis. Gavrilov however, insisted he was instructed by the protocol service of Georgian parliament.
That same day, a large protest took place in front of Parliament, which was violently dispersed by the orders of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia. During the night of the protest, about 240 people were hospitalized, of which 2 lost their vision. It became known as Gavrilov's Night. Georgian Dream leader Ivanishvili said the protest was legitimate, but the situation was exploited by the opposition parties to storm the parliament building, thus the police measures were necessary to prevent a coup. The protests continued for months, demanding electoral reforms, snap elections, and resignations from the ruling party. Despite some concessions from Georgian Dream, such as the resignation of the chairman of parliament and the partial electoral amendments, the protests did not stop.
On 2 September 2019, Bakhtadze resigned from his position as prime minister. In a letter he published on Facebook, he stated that he "decided to resign because I believe I have fulfilled my mission at this point". Ivanishvili personally nominated Gakharia as his replacement, praising him for his ability to manage crises. The opposition boycotted Gakharia's confirmation vote.
Third term: Tensions with the West (2020–present)