{"id":69003,"date":"2025-01-20T17:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T16:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/policy-brief-aufruf-zum-handeln-fuer-den-westen-um-die-demokratie-in-georgien-zu-retten\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T19:10:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T17:10:59","slug":"policy-brief-save-democracy-in-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libmod.de\/en\/policy-brief-save-democracy-in-georgia\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Brief: Save Democracy in Georgia!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Georgia\u2019s democracy is on the brink of collapse following the fraud\u00adulent parlia\u00admentary elections in October 2024 and the violent crackdown by the ruling regime under the Georgian Dream party. In his policy brief, Sergi Kapanadze analyses how the country\u2019s pro-European course has been derailed by systematic election manip\u00adu\u00adlation and repression. His analysis includes concrete recom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtions for the inter\u00adna\u00adtional community and a call to act now.<\/h3>\n

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Executive summary<\/h3>\n

Georgia faces an immense political crisis, one which could soon become an economic crisis as well if the problem of the Government\u2019s legit\u00adimacy is not swiftly resolved. Widely discredited due to fraud and intim\u00adi\u00addation on a massive scale, the parlia\u00admentary elections of October 2024 triggered waves of grass\u00adroots protests across the nation. Public protest inten\u00adsified after 28 November, when the Georgian Dream leaders declared that Georgia was reversing its course toward EU integration. Over a month of massive peaceful demon\u00adstra\u00adtions throughout the country have created a crisis of legit\u00adimacy for the Government. The Georgian Dream (GD) regime, under the control of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, has responded with systematic violence, repression, and democ\u00adratic backsliding. This policy brief offers actionable recom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtions for the inter\u00adna\u00adtional community on countering Georgia\u2019s descent into authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

The legit\u00adimacy crisis<\/h3>\n

Since the October 2024 elections, Georgia has witnessed unprece\u00addented erosion of its democ\u00adratic fabric and insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. What was once a budding democracy on the path to European integration has now all but entirely slipped into author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adanism. The numerous viola\u00adtions and irreg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adities described by election observers, including those from the OSCE\/\u200bODIHR, PACE, and the European Parliament, clearly portray the elections as far from free or fair and as yielding results that do not represent the will of the people. Reports from both Georgian civil society groups and inter\u00adna\u00adtional organi\u00adza\u00adtions detail widespread voter intim\u00adi\u00addation, ballot manip\u00adu\u00adlation, and misuse of state resources. Furthermore, the use of systemic violence against those attending pro-European rallies by law enforcement agencies, which are under the control of the Georgian Dream, has further eroded people\u2019s trust in the government and created the worst political crisis in Georgia\u2019s recent history. We should not forget that this crisis was preceded by the adoption of Russian-style legis\u00adlation in the form of a statute on \u201ctrans\u00adparency of foreign influence\u201d (similar to Russia\u2019s Foreign Agents Act and often referred to as the \u201cforeign agents law\u201d) and another on \u201cfamily values\u201d (similar to the Russian laws banning \u201cLGBT propaganda\u201d).<\/p>\n

The regime\u2019s response to public outrage over the reversal of the European path has been brutal. Peaceful protesters demanding free elections and the release of political prisoners have met with police violence, arbitrary arrests, and inhuman treatment and torture. President Salome Zoura\u00adbichvili, Georgia\u2019s last remaining independent consti\u00adtu\u00adtional figure, has vowed to stand her ground. Still, the GD-controlled parliament has \u201creplaced\u201d her with a pro-Russian far-right party loyalist through an illegit\u00adimate process. At stake is not only the future of Georgia\u2019s democracy but also its European aspirations.<\/p>\n

Electoral fraud: subverting the will of the people<\/h3>\n

The October 2024 elections marked a turning point in Georgia\u2019s democ\u00adratic trajectory. Reports from inter\u00adna\u00adtional monitors<\/a>, local observer groups<\/a>, and independent analysts<\/a> painted a bleak picture:<\/p>\n