22 Parties and Blocs Contest for New Parliament

The Central Election Commission (CEC) registered on October 2 the lists of candidates of the political parties and blocs, who will run in the November 2 parliamentary elections under the proportional system.

A total of 9 blocs and 13 parties will contest for 235 seats in the new Parliament. However, according to the recent opinion polls, only six of them will be able to clear the 7% barrier necessary to secure seats in the legislative body.

These parties and blocs introduced in their lists already well-known faces to the public. Many of them are either former Parliament members or the government officials.

Drafting of candidates’ party lists is one of the most important and burdensome processes of the pre-election preparations in the Georgian politics. Being among the first ten candidates in a party list is crucial for the candidates, as they have most chances to secure seats in the Parliament, in case the party or bloc clears the 7% barrier. Thus, very often, a party list becomes a major reason for discords among the parties and blocs.

The process of drafting a list of candidates turned to be painful especially for the presidential-backed election bloc For New Georgia, which unites 9 parties and movements. The process started long ago; however the leaders of the pro-governmental bloc were unable to reach an agreement until the very last moment.

On October 2, when the deadline for registration in the CEC expired, the leaders of the bloc were extremely unhappy with the candidates’ list. All of them tried to promote their nominees in the first 50-70 places in the lists. This is the number of the seats, which the bloc intends to secure in the Parliament under the proportional system.

“The pro-presidential bloc has most of the members [nine] and therefore it was natural that we had more difficulties with the party lists. Finally each member had to cut down its shares in the lists,” Irakli Mindeli of the presidential-backed bloc, told Civil Georgia.

“I am very unhappy with the distribution of the quotas. The Tbilisi residents did not get the amount they should had,” said Vano Zodelava, who is regarded as one of the most popular figures among the bloc’s leadership.

As anticipated, former State Minister Vazha Lortkipanidze leads the 224-member list of the bloc For New Georgia. Leader of the pro-presidential parliamentary group Elguja Medzmariashvili, Vakhtang Rcheulishvili of Socialists Party, Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia of National-Democratic Party, Levan Mamaladze, former governor of Kvemo Kartli region and Tamaz Nadareishvili, head of the Tbilisi-based Abkhaz government in exile are among the first ten candidates in the list. 

Drafting of candidates’ list was less painful for other parties and blocs. Nino Burjanadze, the Parliamentary Chairperson and the leader of Burjanadze-Democrats election bloc, which leads the recent opinion polls, admitted that the process of drafting candidates’ list “was not easy.” “However we had no confrontation,” she added.

Chairperson of the Parliament Nino Burjanadze is number one in the list. She also intends to run for MP in the single-mandate constituency in western Georgian city of Kutaisi. Number two is Akaki Asatiani, former head of the Supreme Council, the country’s legislative body in 1991-1992 and the leader of the Traditionalists Party. The third one is Zurab Zhvania, former chairman of the Parliament.

There are total 155 candidates in the Burjanadze-Democrats’ list. Nino Burjanadze expressed hope, that “at least half of their candidates will take seats in the new Parliament.”

“It is a very interesting bloc with very interesting list indeed. It unites professionals and honest people. We evaluated every member on the list according to his or her experience,” Giorgi Baramidze of the Burjanadze-Democrats told Civil Georgia.

The Saakashvili-National Movement election bloc, led by Chairman of Tbilisi City Council Mikheil Saakashvili, is the only bloc, whose leader is not presented in the candidates’ list. Mikheil Saakashvili refused to run for MP and decided to retain the City Council’s chairmanship. The Saakashvili-National Movement’s list is led by Koba Davitashvili, followed by Maia Nadiradze, former member of the Traditionalists Party.

Shalva Natelashvili, who also enjoys popular support, leads the Labor Party’s list. Top ten of the Labor Party includes former Communications Minister Pridon Injia and movie director Goderdzi Choxeli. Shalva Natelashvili said on October 2 that the Labors intend to take at least 120 seats in the new Parliament.

“We are preparing to take over the power and we will need decisive majority for this in the Parliament. The Georgian society will have to make a simple choice: Shevardnadze, or the Labors,” Natelashvili said.

The New Rights leader David Gamkrelidze is topping the bloc’s list, while another leader Levan Gachechiladze is only 75th in the list. He intends to run for MP in one of the single-mandate constituencies in Tbilisi.

The list of the Revival Union is led, traditionally, by Head of the Adjarian Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze. One of the leaders of the party Sandro Bregadze was not included in the list at all, that was rather unexpected. “The party needs fresh blood,” explains Tsotne Bakuria, head of the party’s Tbilisi branch.  
 
The opposition parties and blocs – the Burjanadze-Democrats, Laborites, National Movement, Revival and the New Rights lead the latest opinion polls, while the presidential-backed election bloc would hardly clear the 7% barrier. However, there is no doubt that the presidential-backed election bloc will successfully clear this threshold, even using only its administrative leverages.

Observers say that the race is very close among the parties and if this trend remains, none of them will be able to form a majority in the parliament.

By Nino Khutsidze, Civil Georgia