Strong Georgia ძლიერი საქართველო | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SG |
| Leader | Mamuka Khazaradze |
| Key people | David Gamkrelidze (campaign leader)[1] |
| Founded | 17 July 2024 |
| Headquarters | Tbilisi,Georgia |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-left[3] |
| Constituent parties | Lelo Citizens Former: For the People Freedom Square |
| Colors | Yellow Blue |
| Slogan | რეალური ალტერნატივა ('Real alternative') |
| Seats inParliament | 0 / 150 |
| Municipal Councilors | 59 / 2,058 |
| Website | |
| dzlieri9 | |
Strong Georgia (SG;Georgian: ძლიერი საქართველო,romanized:dzlieri sakartvelo) is an informalpolitical coalition ofpro-Europeanpolitical parties inGeorgia. Its platform has generally been placed on thecentre tocentre-left and the alliance includesliberal as well associal democratic factions.
The coalition's initial constituent members wereMamuka Khazaradze'sLelo for Georgia,Ana Dolidze'sFor the People,Aleko Elisashvili'sCitizens, as well as the political movementFreedom Square led by Levan Tsutskiridze. The alliance also included other notable politicians such as the former PresidentGiorgi Margvelashvili and formerNew Rights Party leaderDavid Gamkrelidze.
On July 17, 2024, three opposition groups —Mamuka Khazaradze'sLelo for Georgia,Ana Dolidze'sFor the People, and the newly launchedFreedom Square movement — announced their alliance ahead of theOctober 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".[4][5]
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.[6] The parties in the coalition signed theGeorgian Charter initiated by the presidentSalome Zourabichvili with the aim of uniting the pro-Western opposition parties and setting out goals for a possible future government.[7]
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 withUnited National Movement. She expressed hope of uniting Strong Georgia and ex-Prime MinisterGiorgi Gakharia'sFor Georgia.[8][9]
On 17 September, Khazaradze and Gakharia met at the President'sOrbeliani 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 rulingGeorgian Dream party from power.[10][11][12] On September 19, For Georgia announced via Facebook that the negotiations had collapsed, citing internal disagreements within Strong Georgia.[13] 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 inGavrilov's Night protest crackdown.[14]
In the parliamentary election, the Strong Georgia bloc received 8.8% of the votes and was granted 14 seats, becoming third largest opposition faction in the Georgian parliament.[15]
On March 8, 2025, theFreedom Square political movement officially became a political party, formally leaving the electoral coalition to continue its development as an independent political force.[16] Ana Dolidze'sFor the People party left the coalition shortly after Freedom Square's departure.[17]
Strong Georgia is generally described as acentre tocentre-left coalition,[2][3][18][19][20] however, it has also been labeledbig tent.[21] The coalition has been describedliberal andsocial liberal.[2][22] The alliance also includessocial democratic factions.[23] Its election promises have been described aspopulist.[20] The coalition ispro-European.[3][23]
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 theIlia Chavchavadze's statue. It promised to constructAnaklia 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 formalminimum wage, whileLevan Tsutskiridze focused on education reform. The alliance promised to introduce a heavygambling tax and use the increased budget funds to raise pensions.[24] The leader of the coalitionMamuka Khazaradze has expressed support forGeorgian Dream's proposal to make theGeorgian Orthodox Church astate religion in Georgia. Khazaradze stated that "Georgia does not and will not exist without the Georgian Orthodox Church".[25]
The coalition stated that it would introducevisa regime for Russian citizens in Georgia, restrict direct flights with Russia, and ban selling agricultural land to Russians. It promised greater attention toEuropean 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 throughstudent exchange programs.[21][24]
| Party | Leader | Ideology | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lelo for Georgia | Mamuka Khazaradze | Liberalism | Centre | |
| Citizens | Aleko Elisashvili | Populism Liberalism | Centre to centre-left | |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Mamuka Khazaradze | 182,922 | 8.81 | 14 / 150 | New | 4th | Opposition |
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mamuka Khazaradze | 91,266 | 6.74 | 59 / 2,058 | New |
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.