Georgia’s Opposition Bets on Primary to Boost Popularity

Over 11,000 Georgians went to the polls on September 17 to vote in Georgia's first primary elections. Some observers say that the polls could give Georgia's traditionally weak opposition a significant boost in parliamentary by-elections planned for October 1. But others argue that voter confusion about the primary system means that the vote will likely have little lasting significance.

Three opposition parties, the New Rights, Conservative Party and the Freedom Party, nominated candidates in four out of the five constituencies that are participating in the October elections. According to the results, the New Rights won in three constituencies: Isani, a district in Tbilisi, Tkibuli, a town in the western region of Imereti, and Shuakhevi, a town in the Black Sea region of Ajara. The Conservatives won in Batumi, capital of Ajara, and in Kobuleti, an Ajaran seaside resort town, where they were the only opposition party to field a candidate. The Labor Party and the Freedom Party have agreed to support and campaign for these joint candidates.

"We cannot win an election separately. We would lose," Conservative Party Kakha Kukava said. "We do not have the strength right now to win individually, but if we act together we have a chance that in some regions they would support our party, in some [other regions], our partners."

According to a national survey conducted in March 2005 by Georgian Opinion Research Business International, not one of the four major opposition parties enjoyed as much as 10 percent support. President Mikheil Saakashvili's National Movement Party, which controls parliament, ranks at over 30 percent.

Kukava stated that the "surprising" number of voters who cast ballots during the primary gives the opposition hope for success in the by-elections. "Now we have shown -- and in October we will show them [the National Movement] once again -- that a lot more people in Georgia support the opposition," he said.

Still, it remains uncertain whether a united opposition front can garner enough votes to win seats and decrease the National Movement's overwhelming parliamentary majority. According to official election results, fewer that 4,000 people voted in the Isani primary. Roughly 12,000-13,000 people are expected to show up for the by-election.

National Movement Press Secretary Temur Grigalashvili takes that lower primary turnout as a sign that the country still supports the governing party. "We are sure that we will win," Grigalashvili said.

Not all voters taking part in the primaries considered themselves active supporters of the opposition. Some, like Merabi Siradze, a resident of Isani, said that they were participating out of a sense of civic duty. "I have the right to vote, if that is the opposition or the ruling party," Siradze said. "I don't really understand what the larger implications are of the election, but I understand that there should be a strong opposition; without the opposition, the government will not work well."

New Rights Party member Giorgi Mosidze, the primary winner in Isani, also views the primaries as more important than just securing seats in the upcoming by-election. "I think this is a new start for the Georgian people and for the country, a new wave of development for political thought, political vision," said Mosidze. The vote, he continued, is "an example that it is possible to reach common decisions among the opposition [parties]."

Saakashvili congratulated the opposition for putting their differences aside. During a September 19 meeting with the Central Election Commission to discuss the by-elections, he spoke out in favor of the opposition's effort. "[I] welcome the opposition's coordination," media reports quoted Saakashvili as saying. "I hope that this cooperation gives us the chance to create a responsible opposition."

Since Saakashvili took office more than a year and a half ago, international organizations have lamented the lack of a strong opposition in Georgian politics. In January 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recommended that the government take steps to level the playing field for the opposition, including a review of the 2004 constitutional changes that granted "strong powers" to the president. PACE also recommended that the government lower the 7 percent vote threshold required for political parties to gain representation in parliament "in order to create conditions for a pluralist and genuinely representative parliament."

Kakha Sopromadze, a lawyer with the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, believes the primaries are a step in that direction. "Of course, it helps the democratic process," he said.

But Sopromadze cautioned that the primaries highlighted a recurring problem in Georgian politics as well: voting irregularities during elections. "This was the first time we have had a primary and there were some problems. The procedure was not clearly laid out and people at the stations [election workers] did not know what they were supposed to do," he said. "The second problem was the population did not know what a primary is. They thought they were voting for the parliament representative. They were not well informed."

Voter reaction seemed to highlight Sopromadze's concerns. "I will take part in this election if they will repair my elevator," said Yelizaveta Sibershvili, a middle-aged woman waiting in line at the main voting station in Isani. "If they will repair the elevator, I will vote; if not, I won't."