Written by Anna Caprile.
Georgia will hold parliamentary elections on 26 October 2024, for the first time under a fully proportional election system. The results of this vote will be highly consequential, potentially determining Georgia’s EU and North-Atlantic integration trajectory for years to come.
The election campaign environment has become increasingly tense and polarised. The party in government since 2012, Georgian Dream, led by party founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, has described the elections as a choice between ‘peace and war’. Meanwhile, the opposition has framed them as a choice between the democratic West and authoritarian Russia. Opinion polls give contradictory results, but those considered more reliable forecast that none of the parties will be able to form a government on its own and that a coalition will be necessary.
Georgia was granted EU candidate status on 14 December 2023, on the condition that the country made progress in nine key areas. Since then, however, the ruling party has introduced a number of legislative acts considered contrary to EU values and obstructing the continuation of accession negotiations. Recent amendments to Georgia’s electoral laws have been criticised by both international and local organisations. In the coming weeks, the Commission is expected to adopt the 2024 enlargement package, assessing progress made by candidate countries, including Georgia.
The elections will be monitored closely by domestic and international observers, including a long‑term election observation mission from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), joined by a delegation of Members of the European Parliament.
Read the complete briefing on ‘Georgia at a crossroads: October 2024 parliamentary elections‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.