Makharadze was a regular contributor to the Georgian political press since the 1990s. In 2003, shortly after the Rose Revolution in Georgia, he co-founded and co-chaired the political movement "chveni adjara" ("Our Adjara"), which opposed the regime of the Adjarian strongman Aslan Abashidze. In February 2004 he became a member of the Parliament of Georgia and in June he was elected to the Supreme Council of Adjara, a regional legislature reelected after Abashidze's resignation. Makharadze was elected a chairman of the Supreme Council on July 20, 2004. He was the only candidate for this position as the other one, also a member of the anti-Abashidze movement, Koba Khabazi, had earlier withdrawn his nomination. He was reelected to this position on December 2, 2008. After the October 1, 2012 election, he was succeeded by Avtandil Beridze on October 28, 2012. Makharadze himself was elected to the Parliament of Georgia on a United National Movement ticket.