Georgia Programme 2018 1. Political update 2018
Political polarization, informal governance and the parliamentary elections of October 8th, continued to define Georgia’s political landscape in 2017. The polarization between the GD and the UNM did not recede. While GD’s overall approval rankings shrank in 2016 and the coalition itself fell apart (after the Free Democrats Party and later, the Republicans left), the UNM found it difficult to re-shape itself and expand its electoral base eventually resulting in the big part of its leadership forming the new “European Georgia Party”. The two individuals continued to exert power from beyond the formal framework of politics and governance. While Michael Saakashvili, former Georgian President and Governor of Odessa region of Ukraine, continued to address and mobilize (via video messages and online) support to UNM, the former Prime Minster, Bidzina Ivanishvili remained a defining political force for GD and therefore its government while officially distancing himself from any political role and responsibility. This is a fundamental problem, as governance without responsibility undermines the credibility of political institutions and risks portraying democracy as a cover-up for behind the scenes influence by interest groups and individuals. As a result, the entire democratic fabric of the country comes under threat. The elections on October 08, 2016 where generally appraised by the international observers as free and fair, solidifying Georgia’s position of as a regional leader in democratic reforms. However, there are challenges that merit a closer attention: The inability of pro-democracy political parties (The Republicans and the Free Democrats) to clear the 5% electoral threshold weakened the democratic forces in the country. The rise of the ultra-nationalistic “Alliance of Georgian Patriots”, which was able to gain enough votes to clear the electoral threshold, is a clear sign of disillusionment by the Georgian voters with politics as usual and the increasing hold that the anti-democratic propaganda had taken root in Georgia. 

The polarization has deepened after the ruling Georgian Dream Party unilaterally voted for the new constitution (objected by the full spectre of the opposition parties, the President of Georgia and many NGOs) and adopted new local government legislation. This deepening polarization will become dangerous as the country undergoes the Presidential elections in 2018 and approaches a more significant general election in 2020. The local elections of 21 October 2017 will test both political parties and the political system itself. Increased efforts will need to be made to strengthen democratic political groups both within GD, major opposition parties as well as new and promising democracy groups and political parties.  

2. Problem Analysis & Theory of Change Update 

The Georgian political system suffers from chronic instability resulting from frequent major legislative reforms carried out by practically every government. The recent cases in view are the recently completed constitutional reform (The Georgian President Margvelashvili reluctantly signed it on October 19th) and the local government reform. Both were met with widespread criticism from the opposition and CSOs. These major shifts, affecting electoral systems, districts and the powers and the constitution of local governments, to name the few examples, create an instable situation. Political parties are being forced by the decisions of dominant parties to constantly operate in a state of flux that inhibits their ability to strategically plan the development of their organizational, policy and human capacities that would bring about more programmatic political parties and more sustainable democratic progress.

The political actors remain overly dependent on personalities and their financial wealth. Perhaps due to the different reasons than in the past years but currently, Georgia is yet again confronted with a dominant party situation. The ruling Georgian Dream Party commands a supermajority in the Parliament and only faces largely fragmented, disorganized and disoriented opposition parties. In contrast to other cases, the particular danger in this situation lies in the informal power that the former Prime Minister Ivanishvili holds over the party he founded and over the Georgian Government. The asymmetry between the ruling and the opposition parties is amplified by the almost endless financial capacity of GD (via Ivanishvili) to outmatch the entire opposition altogether. This unmatched financial backbone of the GD and the inability of the Georgian opposition parties to articulate a new and appealing vision for their constituencies creates serious risks as to how and under what circumstances power can be shared, let alone alternated between competing powers peacefully and constitutionally. 

While on the surface the Georgian democratic progress may seem impressive, it has a deep and dangerous undercurrent running beneath it. This brings forward the need to support the democratic political parties and to try and work for the enhancement of the internal party democracy within the GD (and other parties) while also engaging with relatively small and weak but newly forming political movements that align with democratic ideals and show hope of future success. At the same time, Georgian society is being subjected to consistent anti-democratic and anti-European propaganda. The rise of ethno- nationalistic political parties and the inflammatory rhetoric they employ fuels the already deep divisions within the country. In this light the importance of sustaining and strengthening public trust in democracy, supporting democrats, democratic movements and citizen networks can not be underestimated. In what many call the “post-truth” fake news era, young and fragile democracies are particularly vulnerable to the malignant influence of carefully crafted anti-democratic messaging that utilizes the power of social media to micro target uninformed and unsuspecting audiences.
 
Therefore, NIMD’s interventions that aim to facilitate constructive dialogue between parties, create a more transparent and representative political system as well as foster democratic culture and civic action are now increasingly necessary. 

3. Programme outlook

Political system
In 2018, NIMD will support the discussion about political parties, their internal organization and their policy capacities. Facing a situation where anti-democratic political parties are gaining strength at the expense of liberal political movements, NIMD will initiate a strategic dialogue on general approaches in political party aid in Georgia but also in the wider region.
  
Political actor 
NIMD will build on its achievements with implementing a strategic planning methodology that informs its decisions on what assistance and tools are needed to support political actors. It will continue to provide direct political party building assistance to parliamentary and non-parliamentary political parties with a special focus on strengthening democratic opposition. In view of the upcoming elections in 2018, efforts will be directed at capacity building on policy development and intra-party democracy:

a. Membership data management and software development: To support political actors in better managing their organizations, EECMD developed membership data management software for political parties in 2017. In 2018 EECMD will further upgrade this tool with the integration of deliberation and decision-making software applications. 

b. Piloting digital strategic planning tool: In 2017, EECMD started to develop the digital tool for strategic planning, based on Strategic Planning Methodology for Political Parties developed in 2011. It will carry out a pilot program for the use of this digital tool with selected Georgian political parties in 2018.

c. Bilateral support: EECMD will continue the bilateral technical assistance to political parties focusing on intra-party democracy, policy development and management improvement.

Political culture
In Georgia, both the political actors and the political system reflect larger trends, beliefs and norms of its society. Hence, addressing the issue of values, norms and behavior is important. EECMD Democracy Schools target this very important area of democratic transformation. 

a. Democracy Schools: The Democracy Schools ran by EECMD will continue to convene key-actors such as grass-root organizations, political parties and local authorities, including city councils, and provide them with tools and resources to actively engage in an open discourse and to advocate for knowledge-based ideas or policy proposals. It is intended that the two democracy schools currently funded by NIMD will be maintained but with altered focus due to fund limitations. EECMD will reorient the Democracy Schools in Telavi and Kutaisi from training centers to alumni networking centers aiming at facilitating relations and joint development of actions plans to support democratic development. Shall extra funding become available, EECMD will swiftly continue the training part. Additionally, the possibility of establishing a new democracy School in Tbilisi as well as in the Western Georgian town of Zugdidi (Bordering the de-facto border with breakaway Abkhazia) or in the areas with national minority population will be explored. 

b. Democracy boot camp learning material. In the past years, a significant amount of learning resources have been accumulated by EECMD through its Democracy Bootcamps which are organized annually as major educational and networking events for the alumni of Democracy Schools. These include a wealth of learning plans, lectures and reading material. See the dedicated website: www.democracybootcamp.ge (lectures in Georgian). In 2018, EECMD will go back to these past events and compile professional learning material from it (some of which actually have already resulted in the past in very popular publications, such as the one on Georgia-EU relations after the Association Agreement was signed). 

c. How to confront authoritarians - publication. In the context of democratic shortcomings in Georgia as well as the backsliding of democracy internationally, it is important that the belief that indeed democracy is the best way to govern is strengthened. A publication “How to confront authoritarian narratives: a practical guide for democracy leaders” will be developed feature a collection of responses to common totalitarian myths and the arguments for Why Democracy. Written by international and local experts, the collection of essays on different issues providing solid and rational justifications FOR democracy will be developed both as a hard copy publication but also as an interactive digital portal. 

d. Mediation training: A professional 6-day mediation training course for selected alumni of Democracy Schools will be organized to equip them with skills and knowledge on how to work on consensus and resolve political or other disputes peacefully. 

Gender & Diversity

a. Gender ranking and publication: EECMD has carried out three consecutive studies on political parties to measure the intra-party, policy and electoral dimensions of gender equality across the political parties of Georgia. In 2018, upgrading Gender Ranking methodology into a more sophisticated and inclusive methodology is planned, which will also allow for its international application and easy adaptation. A subsequent book based on gender ranking results and personal stories of female politicians in Georgia will be published. 

b. Female political fundraising module: EECMD will create a training module and a toolkit on fundraising strategies for women politicians. It could be relevant not only in Georgia, but also other countries.

c. Dialogue meetings: EECMD will continue to support the discussion on improving women’s participation in politics. This will be done through dialogue facilitation efforts to explore multiparty action on political or public policy levels. Political actors are defined as the combined main target group of the Strategic Partnership: - (representatives of) political parties - politicians - (Members of) Parliament and its Committees - Other elected representatives at local levels. NIMD will primarily focus on political parties.