Free Democrats თავისუფალი დემოკრატები | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Tamar Kekenadze |
| Secretary-General | Emzar Kakulia |
| Founder | Irakli Alasania |
| Founded | 16 July 2009 |
| Registered | 21 August 2009 |
| Headquarters | Tbilisi |
| Ideology | Liberalism[4] Pro-Europeanism[7] |
| Political position | Centre[6] tocentre-left[8] |
| National affiliation | Alliance for Georgia (2009–2010) Georgian Dream (2012–2014) Third Force (2021) |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (affiliate)[1] |
| Colors | Blue and Red |
| Seats in Parliament | 0 / 150 |
| Website | |
| fd.ge | |
Free Democrats (Georgian:თავისუფალი დემოკრატები,romanized:tavisupali demok'rat'ebi), previously known asOur Georgia – Free Democrats is aliberal andpro-Westernpolitical party inGeorgia.[5] It was founded byIrakli Alasania, Georgia's former envoy to theUnited Nations, on 16 July 2009.[9] Tamar Kekenadze serves as the party's current chairman.[10]
The party was formed in opposition to the government led byMikheil Saakashvili and hisUnited National Movement (UNM) party.[9] From 2012 to 2014 it was a part of theGeorgian Dream coalition that unseated the UNM government from power.[11] In2016 it ran independently of the coalition barely missing the 5% threshold needed to enter the parliament.[12] Ever since the party has been in the extraparliamentary opposition.
Irakli Alasania, Georgia's former envoy to theUnited Nations, went into opposition to the UNM government led by Saakashvili in December 2008.[13] On 23 February 2009 Alasania, along withNew Rights andRepublican Parties, announced the formation of a political coalitionAlliance for Georgia with Alasania being named the chairman.[14] Alasania established his own party Our Georgia – Free Democrats on 16 July 2009.[9]
Alliance for Georgia was part of the2009 protests that called for Saakashvili's resignation and early presidential elections.[13] In the2010 local elections Alliance for Georgia came in third place receiving 9.19% of the vote. In addition, Alasania ran for theTbilisi mayoral election receiving 19.05% and coming in second place after the incumbent mayorGigi Ugulava from UNM.[15]
In October 2010, OG - FD joined the Group of Eight parliamentary alliance with seven other opposition parties. It includedChristian-Democratic Movement (CDM), New Rights (NR),National Forum (NF),Conservative Party (CP), Republican Party (RP),Georgia's Way (GW), andPeople's Party (PP). The goal of the coalition was to unify the opposition over issues related to electoral reform. The grouping fell apart when two of the opposition parties (CDM and NR) split with the rest of the coalition and made a deal with the ruling UNM party over electoral reform.[16][17][18] The 6 parties that didn't sign the agreement tried forming a coalition that collapsed in less than 3 months due to differences in tactics.[19]
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On 21 February 2012Georgian Dream coalition was established by billionaire businessman and oligarchBidzina Ivanishvili led by the political party also namedGeorgian Dream. Free Democrats were one of the parties to join the coalition.[20] Georgian Dream attracted massive rallies since the formation of the coalition.[26] The coalition's campaign surged after theGldani prison scandal highlighted widespread torture in Georgian prisons under Saakashvili's administration.[27][28]
The coalition successfully challenged the ruling UNM party in the2012 parliamentary election.[29] It won this election with 54.97% of the vote, gaining 85 seats in parliament. Out of the 85 seats, Free Democrats were allocated 11.[30] InTbilisi Widespread celebrations were held in support of Georgian Dream. The next day, Saakashvili accepted the results as legitimate, while at the same time noting that he remained deeply opposed to the coalition.[31] Saakashvili pledged to support the constitutional process of forming a new government and peaceful transfer of power.[32]
OG-FD created the "Georgian Dream-Free Democrats" faction.[33] On 25 October Ivanishvili was voted in as the country's new prime minister, with 88 votes in favor to 54 against.[34] The most ministries in the 21-member cabinet went to the Georgian Dream party, while the Free Democrats party was represented in the government by four ministers:Tea Tsulukiani as the Minister of Justice,Irakli Alasania as the Minister of Defense and Vice Premier,Alexi Petriashvili as the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, and Kote Surguladze as the State Minister on the Diaspora Issues.[35]
The new government maintained thefree market economic model set up under the previous administration, while also establishing a functionalsocial safety net.[36] It increased social spending on programs such as pensions, social assistance allowances, and education spending.[37] The government introduced theUniversal Healthcare Program (UHP).[38] The reform made state-sponsored health insurance available on a mass scale.[39] Prison and crime reforms were additionally initiated that changed the approach to crime to be more lenient, scrapping thezero-tolerance policy pursued under the previous administration.[40] Furthermore, the Parliament passed the Amnesty Bill that either granted full exemption from punishment or a reduction of prison sentences to the prisoners.[41] However, the government also persecuted thirty-five officials who had served under the previous government with criminal charges ranging from embezzlement to abuse of power and torture.[42]
In the lead-up to the2013 presidential election, Free Democrats debated on fielding Alasania as a separate presidential candidate, however, in the end, the coalition decided on a joint candidateGiorgi Margvelashvili. Margvelashvili went on to win the election in a landslide garnering 62% of the votes.[43][44][45] On 20 November 2013, Ivanishvili resigned as Prime Minister being succeeded by the Interior MinisterIrakli Garibashvili.[46] During Garibashvili's tenure the government made progress towards EU integration by passing an anti-discrimination bill and signingEuropean Union Association Agreement.[47][48][49] In2014 local elections OG-FD ran as a part of the Georgian Dream coalition getting 50.82%.[50]
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Free Democrats left the Georgian Dream coalition in November 2014, a day after Alasania was fired by PM Garibashvili.[51] This led to the emergence of a new opposition faction in the Georgian parliament and aparty-switch by several MPs between the ruling coalition and the new Free Democrats faction.[52] While State Minister for European Integration Petriashvili and Foreign Minister Panjikidze, Alasania's sister-in-law, announced their resignation, the Justice Minister Tsulukiani stated that she would keep the post.[53]
In2016 parliamentary election Free Democrats ran independently and received 4.61% of the vote. It became the fourth-biggest party in the country, however, it failed to pass the 5% threshold needed to gain seats in the parliament. In response to the disappointing performance Alasania announced he was leaving politics with him not participating in the second round of the election.[12][54]
Shalva Shavgulidze was elected as the new chairman.[55] Free Democrats and the Republicans united in the lead up to2017 local elections.[56] However the alliance fell apart before the election with Free Democrats choosing not to participate and the Republicans running alone.[57][58]
In the lead-up to the 2019 Mtatsminda district by-electionEuropean Georgia and Free Democrats decided to put up a joint candidate - the chairman of Free Democrats Shalva Shavgulidze.[59] Shavgulidze received 38.83% narrowly losing to the Georgian Dream nominated candidate Lado Kakhadze, who got 41%.[60]
Free Democrats and European Georgia had discussed further uniting ahead of2020 parliamentary election, however, FD ran separately, receiving 5,188 votes or 0.27%, the party's lowest result thus far.[61][62][63] In the lead up to the election the party suffered an internal crisis that led to the chairman of the party Shavgulidze leaving it and Tamar Kekenadze, the Secretary-General, taking up his position.[64]
In 2021, Free Democrats, Republicans, andStrategy Aghmashenebeli announced the formation of theThird Force coalition.[65] Third Force ran in the2021 local elections receiving 1.34% of the vote.[66]
Despite the fact that Free Democrats has self-positioned itself as "right-centrist", analysts have labeled it acentrist orcentre-left party.[6][8][13] The party has been referred to asliberal orleft-liberal.[1][8] It has been categorized as the only major centre-left party in Georgian politics.[8] However, some analysts see the FD's positions as being more on thecentre-right and describe it as adhering toeconomic liberalism.[5]
Free Democrats is widely seen as beingpro-European.[5][6][1] It supports European integration and sees it as means to protect "national interests and high standards of living".[6] The party is seen as being committed to deepening ties with Euro-Atlantic institutions, including theEU andNATO. Free Democrats were additionally described as Georgian Dream's singular pro-Western faction.[67]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government | Coalition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Irakli Alasania | 1,181,862 | 54.97 | 11 / 150 | New | 1st | Government | Georgian Dream |
| 2016 | Irakli Alasania | 81,464 | 4.63 | 0 / 150 |  11 | 4th | Extra-parliamentary | independent |
| 2020 | Tamar Kekenadze | 5,188 | 0.27 | 0 / 150 |  | 15th | Extra-parliamentary | independent |
| Election | Votes | % | Position | Coalition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 156,540 | 9.19 | 3rd | Alliance for Georgia |
| 2014 | 719,431 | 50.82 |  1st | Georgian Dream |
| 2021 | 23,629 | 1.34 | 9th | Third Force |
