The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს პატრიოტთა ალიანსი, romanized: sakartvelos p'at'riot'ta aliansi, APG) is a political party in the republic of Georgia.[6] It was founded in 2012 by leaders from the Resistance Movement, which opposed the government of Mikheil Saakashvili. In the 2014 local elections, it gained an aggregate vote nationwide of 4.6%, exceeding the 4% threshold required to qualify as a political party for government funding. Through party-list voting in 47 cities, it won proportional seat representation on the local councils of 30 municipalities, including Tbilisi.[7] In June 2016, the party formed a bloc with five other parties (Free Georgia, led by Kakha Kukava; Tavisupleba, led by Konstantine Gamsakhurdia; Union of Georgian Traditionalists, led by Akaki Asatiani; New Christian-Democrats, led by Gocha Jojua, and Political Movement of Law Enforcement and Armed Forces Veterans) for the scheduled 2016 parliamentary election,[8] finishing 3rd place in the proportional votе and just passing the electoral threshold of 5%.
Alliance of Patriots of Georgia საქართველოს პატრიოტთა ალიანსი | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Davit Tarkhan Mouravi |
| Secretary-General | Irma Inashvili |
| Political Secretary | Giorgi Lomia |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[5] to right-wing[3] |
| Colours | Red, Gold |
| Seats in Parliament | 0 / 150
|
| Municipal Councilors | 5 / 2,068
|
| Website | |
| http://patriots.ge/ | |
History edit
The party was established in December 2012,[9] by founders including Soso Manjavidze, Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi and Irma Inashvili. Giorgi Lomia is political secretary.[7] The party leadership also includes former warlord Emzar Kvitsiani, a figure that has attracted significant controversy.[10] The Alliance party was based on the Resistance Movement, a group fiercely critical of the former ruling party, the United National Movement.
The party declared as its explicit aim to become a "third force" in Georgian politics. It was critical of both the Georgian Dream and the United National Movement, two dominant political parties, describing them as being part of the same "corrupt elite"; however, its criticism at times focused on the United National Movement, while it mainly denounced the Georgian Dream for not dealing harsher with the United National Movement for the crimes committed during its rule before the Georgian Dream took over in 2012. Even in later years, when the Alliance of Patriots grew more critical of the Georgian Dream and accused it of the rigging the 2020 Georgian parliamentary election, the United National Movement still remained its archenemy. At several times the Alliance of Patriots sought to initiate the process of banning the United National Movement, which it described as running the "criminal regime" from 2003 to 2012.
In the 2014 local elections, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia party received 4.7% of the aggregate vote, meeting the required threshold of 4% to qualify as a political party, and making it eligible for future state funding for elections. It ran in a party-list contest for proportional city assembly seats in 47 of a total of 71 municipalities and cities. In 30 jurisdictions, its party-list voting exceeded 4%, making it eligible for seats on 30 local councils, including that of Tbilisi.[7][11]
Inashvili finished fourth in the mayoral election in Tbilisi with 5.4% of the vote; the party won two seats in the Tbilisi City Assembly. In addition, Alliance of Patriots of Georgia mayoral candidates qualified for run-off elections against Georgian Dream (GD) candidates in the cities of Poti and Ozurgeti; and Alliance candidates qualified for second-round runoffs for municipal executives in the municipalities of Lanchkhuti and Khulo.[7]
Political positions edit
The party supports 'Christian and democratic values', and demonstrates itself as a moderate conservative party. It places heavy emphasis on social programs, such as expanded public housing and medical care, as well as pledges to support Georgian folk singing and dance.[5]
The party campaigned against the building of mosques in Adjara, warning of growing Turkish influence and Ankara's alleged designs on the region.[12]
The party supports military neutrality and has appealed to the Georgian government to make corresponding changes in the constitution. It officially favours closer ties with both Russia and the European Union.[13] Those critical of the party from the position of pro-Europeanism are more likely to frame the party as pro-Russian and anti-Western. For example, the United National Movement has requested to ban the APG for its alleged close ties with Russia. The Alliance of Patriots brushed off the criticism, although noting that Georgia should launch a new format of dialogue with Russia for the sake of finding solution to a crisis which Russian-Georgian relations go through.
Television edit
The Alliance party has a television channel, Objective, run by Inashvili. Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi has a series on the channel in which he lectures on the Bible and Orthodox Christianity. A mathematician, he served in earlier administrations as "head of the state department for information technologies in the early 2000s, and as head of the customs department for several months in 2003."[7]
Electoral performance edit
Parliamentary election edit
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Irma Inashvili | 88,097 | 5.01 | 6 / 150
|
new | 3rd | Opposition |
| 2020 | Irma Inashvili | 60,480 | 3.14 | 4 / 150
|
 2
|
6th | Opposition |
Local election edit
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014[14] | 66,805 | 4.72 | 47 / 2,088
|
New |
| 2017[15] | 98,530 | 6.56 | 90 / 2,043
|
 43
|
| 2021[16] | 25,697 | 1.46 | 5 / 2,068
|
85
|
References edit
- ^ "Our Party". Alliance of Patriots of Georgia. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
- ^ "Georgia's traditionalists form new coalition ahead of election". 8 June 2016.
- ^ a b c Kucera, Joshua (24 October 2016). "Georgia: Disillusion with Establishment Fuels Rise of Populism". Eurasianet.
- ^ Kakhishvili, Levan (2020). Georgian party political discourse on foreign policy non-alignment: How has the meaning changed since 1992? (PDF). Tbilisi, Georgia: Georgian Institute of Politics.
In 2016, a small party, Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (APG) revived a discussion about Georgia's non alignment in foreign policy. However, the reasoning behind advocating for non-alignment is different from what was in the 1990s. The starting point of APG's reasoning is that Georgia has been trying to become a NATO member for almost two decades and has not yet been successful, which for APG is an indicator that the West is not planning to integrate Georgia under the security umbrella. Even if Georgia becomes a member of NATO, APG argues, it would mean to give up hope of restoration of territorial integrity.
- ^ a b Alliance of Patriots of Georgia, Party's Page, archived from the original on 13 October 2016, retrieved 22 July 2018
- ^ Cecire, Michael (9 March 2015). "The Kremlin pulls on Georgia". Foreign Policy.
- ^ a b c d e "Local Elections Boost Alliance of Patriots' Ambitions for Parliamentary Polls" Archived 2016-10-13 at the Wayback Machine, Civil Georgia, 21 June 2014
- ^ "Alliance of Patriots Forms 6-Party Bloc for Elections". Civil Georgia. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ Georgian Electoral Amendment Clears Early Hurdle, But Vote Concerns Persist Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 19 December 2015
- ^ Fuller, Liz (28 January 2015). "Georgian Court Releases Jailed Warlord". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ Tom Lansford (2015) Political Handbook of the World 2015, CQ Press
- ^ Kucera, Joshua (24 October 2016). "Georgia: Disillusion with Establishment Fuels Rise of Populism". Eurasianet.
- ^ "Putin now moving against more than Ukraine and Belarus". euromaidanpress.com. 25 February 2022.
- ^ Election results 2014 archiveresults.cec.gov.ge
- ^ Election results 2017 archiveresults.cec.gov.ge
- ^ "Არჩევნების შედეგები".
External links edit
- Website Archived 22 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine