Georgian Dream
Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (, "Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo") is a social democratic political party in Georgia. The party was established on 19 April 2012 by the billionaire businessman and politician Bidzina Ivanishvili. Georgian Dream and its partners in a coalition also named Georgian Dream won majorities in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 general elections. The party is currently led by Irakli Kobakhidze as Party Chairman and Irakli Garibashvili as Prime Minister. History. The party evolved from the public movement Georgian Dream, launched by Ivanishvili as a platform for his political activities in December 2011. Since Ivanishvili was not  a Georgian citizen at the moment of the party's inaugural session, the lawyer Manana Kobakhidze was elected as an interim, nominal chairman of the Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia. The party also includes several notable Georgians such as the politician Sozar Subari, former diplomat Tedo Japaridze, chess grandmaster Zurab Azmaiparashvili, security commentator Irakli Sesiashvili, writer Guram Odisharia and famed footballer Kakha Kaladze. The party successfully challenged the ruling United National Movement (UNM) in the 2012 parliamentary election, pledging to increase welfare spending and pursue a more pragmatic foreign policy with Russia. It won this election in coalition with six other  opposition parties, with 54.97% of the vote, being allotted 85 seats in parliament. The governing UNM took 40.34%. President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded that his party lost, and pledged to support the constitutional process of forming a new government. On 25 October 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili was elected as the prime minister of Georgia. During this period, the State Universal Healthcare Program came into force (making emergency surgeries and childbirth free of charge), the reform of the system of self-governance was initiated and the project on saving agriculture was developed. In November 2013, Ivanishvili voluntarily stepped down as prime minister after  just 13 months in office, saying that he was quitting the political arena. In April 2018 senior MP Gedevan Popkhadze threatened to quit the party for its endorsement of an opposition-nominated candidate, journalist Ninia Kakabadze to the supervisory board of the Georgian Public Broadcaster. Popkhadze criticized Kakabadze for being anti-religious. The incident is seen as an internal conflict between long-time GD members which joined the party while it was in opposition and a new group of members who were installed in high positions prior to the 2016 parliamentary elections. The news agency Democracy and Freedom Watch related  the incident to the return of Bidzina Ivanishvili as chairman of the party later that month, which furthermore was perceived as a move to maintain the unity of the coalition. In August 2018, Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the party would not nominate a candidate for the 2018 presidential elections. Instead it would support the independent candidate Salome Zourabichvili. During the 2019 Georgian protests the party was accused of being corrupt, covertly pro-Russian and subservient to Russian interests by the Georgian opposition. In late 2019 Facebook publicly announced that it removed from Facebook and Instagram a number of accounts and  pages engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior that sought to promote the Georgian Dream government. Analysts said that although Georgian Dream suffered a dip in popularity in the aftermath of the 2019 protests, its relatively successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a boost in popularity, which helped it to secure victory in the 2020 parliamentary election, despite the accusation of electoral fraud by the Georgian opposition. On 11 January 2021, shortly after the election, Ivanishvili announced that he was decisively leaving politics and resigned as Chairman of Georgian Dream, stating that "he had accomplished his goal". The opposition boycotted  the parliament and called on the Georgian Dream to hold repeat elections, leading to a six-month political standoff. In February 2021 Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned, citing disagreement with his party colleagues over enforcing an arrest order for Nika Melia, chairman of United National Movement. According to Gakharia, the detention of the opposition leader amid the political crisis posed a threat of a dangerous political escalation and further destabilization of the country. Gakharia also said that he no longer agreed with the positions of the Georgian Dream and he therefore was leaving the party. Several MPs from Georgian Dream  joined him to form a new party For Georgia. The Georgian Dream party supported Irakli Garibashvili to replace Gakharia, and the Parliament voted 89–2 to appoint Garibashvili, who had an earlier term as prime minister in 2013-2015, and was considered to be a close ally of Bidzina Ivanishvili, which led to speculations whether Ivanishvili continued to influence politics behind the scenes. Ideology. Like many parties of power, Georgian Dream lacks a clear ideology. The reasons were given for this range from the party's history as an all-encompassing front of people opposed to the UNM government to the  standard opportunism associated with such parties. Levan Lortkipanidze, a political science student at Tbilisi State University, described it as "a party of nomenclature, public servants, 'intelligentsia', medium and large businessmen, and technocrats – a party, which is held together through loyalty to its charismatic leader and the opposition to the government of the 'Rose Revolution.'" In addition, it has been reported that left-wing activists view the party as "ideologically amorphous" in contrast to the party's own self-identification with the left itself. In 2017 the party's majority amended the constitution to define marriage as "a union between a  woman and a man for the purpose of creating a family". However, instead of citing conservative moral concerns, the party openly explained the amendment as a way to defang groups "stirring up homophobic and anti-Western sentiment." During its first government, the party passed legislation against discrimination toward LGBT individuals, making Georgia the most LGBT-friendly country in the South Caucasus de jure. The party seeks to take a stance of balancing further European integration with maintaining ties with Russia. According to the Georgian Institute of Politics, Georgian Dream's economic policy comprises a combination of the pre-existing free  market model, created by their predecessors, with a comprehensive "centre-left" safety net. Georgian Dream coalition. Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia was the leading member of the Georgian Dream Coalition, which initially included six political parties of diverse ideological orientations. The coalition was made up of parties ranging from pro-market and pro-western liberals to nationalists and protectionists, united in their dislike of Saakashvili and the United National Movement. The name of the alliance is inspired by a rap song by Ivanishvili's son Bera. Leadership. The party is led by the Chair, who is the leader of the party ’s political council.