Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 21 May 2008.Parliamentary Elections Set for May 21 . Election.ge. March 21, 2008. President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed a referendum on bringing them forward from fall to spring after the 2007 Georgian demonstrations.Georgia to hold early elections BBC News, 8 November 2007 The referendum was held at the same time as the early presidential election on 5 January 2008; the results indicated that voters were largely in favour of having the elections in spring.

The Central Election Commission registered 3,458,020 voters,Total Number of voters , Central Election Commission, Georgia. Accessed on May 10, 2008. significantly higher than the 2,343,087 registered in 2004. The election was observed by 14 international and 31 local organizations. The List of International Non-Governmental Organizations registered at the Central Election Commission of Georgia for May 21, 2008 Parliamentary Elections , Central Election Commission, Georgia. Accessed on May 10, 2008.The List of local Non-Governmental Organizations registered at the Central Election Commission of Georgia for May 21, 2008 Parliamentary Elections , Central Election Commission, Georgia. Accessed on May 10, 2008.

Pre-election process The pre-election period was principally monitored by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as well as several local watchdogs. The PACE observers reported “little or no improvement” in the political climate after the January 5 presidential election, which was held in the tense aftermath of the November 2007 political crisis and resulted in the reelection of Mikheil Saakashvili to his second term. The monitoring mission noted that “the political climate is still dominated by a lack of trust and absence of constructive dialogue between the authorities and the opposition”, one result of this being “the failure of the electoral reform that the authorities and the opposition agreed upon in the aftermath of the November 2007 events.”Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia. Information note by the co-rapporteurs on their fact-finding visit to Tbilisi (26-27 March 2008). Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, April 9, 2008.

The amendments to the election code passed by the Parliament in March 2008 took into account recommendations made by the PACE, such as the abolition of additional voters’ lists and voter registration on polling day; lowering of the electoral threshold from 7% to 5%; the simplification and clarification of election-related complaints and appeals procedures; the introduction of party representation in the District Election Commissions. However, the PACE noted that a number of its other recommendations remained unaddressed.

This period also saw a significant reshuffle among the major political players. On February 29, 2008, the moderate Republican Party of Georgia left the nine-party opposition coalition United National Council, which spearheaded anti-government protests in November 2007, announcing that they would run independently for the parliamentary election, targeting mainly moderate and undecided voters. On the other hand, the New Rights Party, which had distanced themselves from the 2007 demonstrations, now joined the nine-party coalition.

Another key event, which sent shockwaves across Georgia's political scene on April 21, 2008, was the refusal by Nino Burjanadze, the outgoing parliamentary chairwoman and Saakashvili's ally, to run on the president-led United National Movement (UNM) ticket, citing an absence of consensus within the UNM leadership regarding the party list.Georgia: In Surprise Move, Burjanadze Says She Won't Seek Reelection. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 22, 2008.

Contending parties Three election blocs and nine parties contested this election: United National Movement, ruling party led by President Saakashvili; United National Council – a nine-party bloc led by the New Rights Party with the Conservative Party of Georgia, Georgia's Way, Tavisupleba, On Our Own Party, People's Party, Movement for United Georgia, Georgian Troupe and National Forum. The New Rights was led by David Gamkrelidze. The bloc was led by the former presidential candidate and Saakashvili's principal rival Levan Gachechiladze, co-founder of the New Rights and its former chair; Republican Party of Georgia, led by Davit Usupashvili; Georgian Labour Party, led by Shalva Natelashvili; Christian-Democratic Movement, founded and led by the former Imedi TV journalist Giorgi Targamadze; Rightist Alliance – Topadze Industrialists, uniting Industry Will Save Georgia led by the beer magnate Gogi Topadze, the National Democratic Party and Unity led by the former Soviet Georgian leader Jumber Patiashvili; Union of Georgian Traditionalists – Our Georgia – Georgian Women Party for Justice and Equality alliance; Christian-Democratic Alliance, uniting the former presidential candidate Gia Maisashvili, the Green Party and Temur Shashiashvili, a former governor of Imereti region under ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze; The Georgian Politics, a party recently set up by Gocha Pipia, a member of the outgoing parliament; Our Country; National Party of Radical-Democrats of Georgia; .

The Central Election Commission refused to register 37 political parties for the election, on account of various irregularities in their submissions.List of the Parties which have been refused for the registration to participate in the upcoming Parliamentary Elections May 21, 2008. Central Election Commission, Georgia. Accessed on May 10, 2008.

Opinion polls On May 5, 2008, the United States-based company Greenberg Quinlan Rosner published the results of a survey commissioned by the United National Movement. The results showed that the UNM received 44% of support, compared to 12% for the United National Council, 11% for the Christian Democratic Movement, 7% for the Georgian Labour Party, 4% for the Republican Party of Georgia, and 16% were undecided.

Conduct On election day, there was a shooting incident in the village Khurcha, near Zugdidi, in the west of the country. Three people were hospitalized. Close-up footage of the shooting was captured by a TV crew from Rustavi 2. President Saakashvili claimed that the shooting had been an attempt to disrupt the election. An investigation was carried out by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee within hours, and concluded that the shooting had most likely been carried out by Georgian forces.

On 22 May 2008, OSCE observers stated that the poll was an improvement from the presidential election held earlier that year, but that it was stilled marred by a number of imperfections. Early results indicated that UNM had 63% and the United National Council had 13%, but the opposition's partial results from Tbilisi gave the UOC 40%, and the UNM - 32%. The Christian Democrats and the Labour Party also cleared the threshold.

Results

Proportional results by territory Territory Turnout UNM UNC CDM GLP RP Others Lead Mtatsminda 57.77 45.42 33.72 4.60 6.47 5.43 4.36 11.70 Vake 55.76 33.77 42.43 5.70 6.80 6.41 4.89 8.66 Saburtalo 52.64 37.94 35.80 5.99 8.65 6.25 5.37 2.14 Krtsanisi 51.05 56.21 23.75 5.57 8.42 2.77 3.28 32.46 Isani 43.09 46.91 27.02 7.00 10.44 3.63 5.00 19.89 Samgori 41.91 46.06 26.44 8.45 12.91 3.21 2.93 19.62 Chughureti 48.85 40.07 34.13 7.15 10.79 4.00 3.86 5.94 Didube 54.37 36.90 36.77 7.76 9.58 4.96 4.03 0.13 Nadzaladevi 47.68 38.33 29.28 8.10 16.06 4.82 3.41 9.05 Gldani 42.91 39.80 27.67 10.59 15.67 3.10 3.17 12.13 Sagarejo 68.43 70.00 14.62 5.85 5.78 2.25 1.50 55.38 Gurjaani 53.60 66.97 12.88 8.35 7.44 2.98 1.38 54.09 Sighnaghi 61.50 70.22 14.16 5.30 4.86 3.73 1.73 56.06 Dedoplistskaro 55.00 58.49 15.92 8.05 11.29 4.78 1.47 42.57 Lagodekhi 56.83 65.76 10.89 8.99 5.82 5.43 3.11 54.87 Kvareli 61.65 59.56 15.69 10.16 7.34 6.06 1.19 43.87 Telavi 50.38 59.68 20.09 11.23 4.23 2.45 2.32 39.59 Akhmeta 60.86 67.91 9.57 7.53 9.47 3.82 1.70 58.34 Tianeti 59.06 65.50 9.00 1.61 21.30 0.98 1.61 44.20 Rustavi 44.36 48.58 23.06 11.80 9.62 3.02 3.92 25.52 Gardabani 49.24 74.35 9.06 5.05 6.96 3.09 1.49 65.29 Marneuli 46.71 83.95 7.06 3.34 1.33 2.23 2.09 76.89 Bolnisi 54.91 83.27 6.89 3.67 2.54 1.77 1.86 76.38 Dmanisi 51.37 84.69 8.31 3.66 1.96 0.43 0.95 76.38 Tsalka 35.24 74.40 16.32 3.09 1.88 2.97 1.34 58.08 Tetritskaro 53.27 62.47 12.04 10.49 9.98 3.05 1.97 50.43 Mtskheta 70.79 69.40 8.92 3.07 13.85 2.47 2.29 55.55 Dusheti 57.35 61.89 5.41 1.53 28.19 1.92 1.06 33.70 Kazbegi 54.98 44.49 14.98 11.18 14.34 12.60 2.41 29.51 Kaspi 63.78 73.33 11.91 3.53 6.74 3.40 1.09 61.42 Akhalgori 63.72 71.03 8.67 2.93 12.22 2.69 2.46 58.81 Gori 57.92 73.46 10.06 4.85 6.62 3.00 2.01 63.40 Kareli 70.15 76.97 5.98 5.24 6.42 3.36 2.03 70.55 Khashuri 74.18 70.30 8.28 7.85 8.90 3.30 1.37 61.40 Borjomi 58.84 48.71 20.13 15.46 9.36 3.69 2.65 28.58 Akhaltsikhe 85.20 83.48 4.82 5.30 3.53 1.70 1.17 78.18 Adigeni 82.61 86.66 4.95 4.09 1.54 1.72 1.04 81.71 Aspindza 85.67 86.92 4.50 1.76 3.95 2.19 0.68 82.42 Akhalkalaki 78.96 90.21 1.45 0.83 2.37 0.35 4.79 87.84 Ninotsminda 82.04 91.71 1.56 0.31 3.55 0.87 2.00 88.16 Oni 64.50 54.37 28.96 2.27 5.42 4.30 4.68 25.41 Ambrolauri 68.66 61.47 25.98 3.64 4.79 2.29 1.83 35.49 Tsageri 61.28 56.28 11.29 13.83 5.04 9.38 4.18 42.45 Lentekhi 73.06 73.42 6.79 0.98 5.12 6.56 7.13 66.63 Mestia 64.82 45.69 32.98 11.09 3.70 1.41 5.13 12.71 Kharagauli 65.50 50.23 22.79 7.08 4.91 12.45 2.54 27.44 Terjola 57.90 68.20 11.78 6.26 5.63 5.27 2.86 56.42 Sachkhere 53.46 60.47 10.89 12.33 7.05 6.41 2.85 48.14 Zestaponi 48.99 51.27 16.31 11.46 13.76 3.41 3.79 34.96 Baghdati 57.93 58.28 21.57 7.97 6.71 3.31 2.16 36.71 Vani 51.59 50.28 11.38 23.58 6.86 4.54 3.36 26.70 Samtredia 50.31 52.96 21.04 13.91 6.32 2.82 2.95 31.92 Khoni 58.36 61.01 14.20 9.63 4.18 8.67 2.31 46.81 Chiatura 47.12 48.73 13.15 20.71 8.02 6.04 3.35 28.02 Tkibuli 52.78 56.00 11.25 9.70 6.21 4.58 12.26 44.75 Tskaltubo 44.22 57.64 10.67 14.71 7.09 3.42 6.47 42.93 Kutaisi 42.73 50.78 17.79 17.30 6.77 3.06 4.30 32.99 Ozurgeti 59.12 62.26 15.33 12.15 3.44 4.09 2.73 46.93 Lanchkhuti 65.06 52.18 17.03 14.23 4.92 3.35 8.29 35.15 Chokhatauri 70.33 66.42 14.87 9.71 2.32 4.85 1.83 51.55 Abasha 64.41 62.18 18.51 7.72 4.71 2.97 3.91 43.67 Senaki 52.87 67.15 12.93 8.99 5.57 2.07 3.29 54.22 Martvili 53.99 68.26 14.57 10.16 2.96 2.30 1.75 53.69 Khobi 58.38 60.36 19.05 13.20 4.01 0.78 2.60 41.31 Zugdidi 39.82 67.11 12.00 8.09 3.20 3.58 6.02 55.11 Tsalenjikha 44.66 68.33 11.25 8.32 3.91 2.87 5.32 57.08 Chkhorotsqu 58.90 63.11 15.69 11.44 5.28 0.82 3.66 47.42 Poti 55.92 55.28 22.16 11.40 5.93 2.36 2.87 33.12 Batumi 45.54 51.29 17.17 14.74 6.26 8.07 2.47 34.12 Keda 67.38 57.95 20.58 7.30 6.14 5.90 2.13 37.37 Kobuleti 50.20 66.24 9.68 15.42 3.69 3.29 1.68 50.82 Shuakhevi 67.96 66.67 13.45 8.15 3.53 3.26 4.94 53.22 Khelvachauri 49.55 60.74 10.34 12.08 6.14 8.75 1.95 48.66 Khulo 64.97 69.49 15.75 6.27 2.30 2.78 3.41 53.74 Liakhvi* 78.43 86.58 6.00 1.88 2.03 2.34 1.17 80.58 Upper Abkhazia 58.75 84.90 2.04 7.07 0.82 1.09 4.08 77.83 Abroad 4.75 81.80 5.33 3.08 1.86 4.20 3.73 76.47Source: Electoral Geography CEC Municipalities of Kurta and Eredvi

Aftermath The United National Council and the Georgian Labour Party announced that they would boycott parliament, which held its inaugural session on June 7, 2008, while the Christian Democrats refused to join them. 2008 District Nº2 by-election

3 November 2008.

2008 District Nº8 by-election

3 November 2008.

2011 District Nº17 by-election

2 October 2011.

Notes

References