2024 Georgian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia on 26 October 2024.

Political context
By the time of the elections, Georgian Dream had been the ruling party in Georgia since defeating Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM) in the 2012 parliamentary election. Announcing its plans to pursue a policy of joining the European Union and NATO, Georgian Dream has also professed a more conciliatory approach towards Russia compared to its anti-Russian opponents.

However, the geopolitical strains of the war in Ukraine and Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict made it more difficult to maintain a balancing act, amid statements from Ukrainian politicians that Georgia would have "greatly aided" Ukraine by opening a "second front" against Russia and Western efforts to isolate Russia with international sanctions.

The Georgian government condemned Russian actions and provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, but did not join the sanctions against Russia, which allowed an influx of Russian capital and highly skilled Russians dodging military mobilization. Russia, in turn, did not approve the proposal of Georgia's breakaway de facto South Ossetian republic to hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation and, despite otherwise hostile relations, has not put Georgia on its unfriendly countries list.

However, in June 2022, the European Union refused to approve Georgia's application to join the union, citing an alleged media censorship and the government's refusal to join the international sanctions against Russia. This led to mobilization by the opposition against the government. In turn, a sovereignist faction People’s Power broke away from Georgian Dream in August 2022, and proposed legislation to regulate foreign influence by creating a special registry to monitor politically active foreign-funded organizations, many of which are Western-funded. While the government claimed that the bill was necessary for public disclosure and transparency, the opposition, aided by the statements of Western embassies and politicians, managed to mobilize violent protests to tackle the bill, likening it to Russian foreign agent law and saying that it would have jeopardized Euro-Atlantic integration, ultimately leading to the parliament withdrawing the bill.

Amid riots in Tbilisi, Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, cautioning against the violent change of power in Georgia, with some Russian politicians suggesting Russia might use military means in case of "instability on the Russian border". In September 2023, the State Security Service of Georgia claimed to have uncovered plans of the opposition and the Western-funded groups to stage a coup in Georgia with the support of Ukraine-based Georgian oppositionist politicians. This in turn led to the pro-Russian Georgian opposition Conservative Movement party and the TV channel Alt-Info starting to mobilize an "Anti-Maidan movement" to counter the alleged coup.

However, in December 2023, the European Union decided to grant Georgia candidate status following the release from prison of oppositionist journalist Nika Gvaramia, who had been arrested on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement, and the parliament's decision to turn down impeachment proceedings against the pro-opposition president Salome Zourabichvili. In late December 2023, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili summarized the year by saying that the government had managed to "preserve the peace" amid the threat of destabilization caused by "radical groups and hostile forces operating within the country", and also to secure EU candidate status for Georgia.

Parties
The ruling Georgian Dream party will seek a fourth term in office.

In January 2023, Levan Khabeishvili unseated Nika Melia from the position of United National Movement chairman after winning internal party elections. Accusing Khabeishvili of being a protégé of shadowy businessman Davit Kezerashvili, Melia announced a break with the UNM and plans for his own party in December 2023. On 8 June 2024, Tinatin Bokuchava became chair of the United National Movement, succeeding Khabeishvili, who resigned due to health complications.

On 20 July 2023, the United National Movement, the largest opposition party, announced an alliance with Strategy Aghmashenebeli of Giorgi Vashadze. According to Khabeishvili, the coalition, named Victory Platform, will center around former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Imprisoned on charges of abuse of power and violence, Saakashvili will lead his party in the election from prison.

On 30 December 2023, Bidzina Ivanishvili, an influential businessman and a founder of Georgian Dream, announced his return to politics as honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, suggesting he would play an active role in the election campaign.

On 8 February 2024, Irakli Kobakhidze was confirmed by the parliament as the new Prime Minister of Georgia from the ruling Georgian Dream party.

In March 2024, the People's Power movement was registered as the political party, and is expected to participate in the election.

On 11 April, the Public Registry revoked the registration of the extreme right Conservative Movement party, banning it from participating in the election. In June 2024, it was announced that the party would merge with the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and run together in the election.

On 8 July, the Chair of the United National Movement, Tina Bokuchava, announced a new political platform named "Unity – to Save Georgia". This platform aims to bring together the United National Movement, Strategy Agmashenebeli — two parties that have been in coalition for a year already — as well as representatives from other parties, civil society, and academia. The new platform will use the UNM ballot number 5 in the upcoming elections.

On 9 July, three opposition parties, Ahali, Girchi - More Freedom, and Droa, announced their decision to post a joint election list for the Parliamentary elections in October. The leaders mentioned that an expected alliance with another party, Lelo, did not materialize due to "minor differences". Subsequently, this alliance was renamed the "Coalition for Change".

On July 16, Mamuka Mdinaradze, Executive Secretary of Georgian Dream, announced during his speech at the opening of the election campaign and the new central office of Georgian Dream that People's Power will participate in the parliamentary elections with a common list alongside the ruling Georgian Dream party.

On July 17, Lelo for Georgia, For the People, and the political movement Freedom Square announced their unification under a single election list for the upcoming elections.

Electoral system
The Parliament of Georgia is composed of 150 members who are elected for a term of four years.

As stipulated by constitutional amendments that were adopted on 26 September 2017, the 2024 election will mark the move to a fully proportional system with a 5% minimal threshold for parties to enter parliament.

A similar seat distribution method used in previous elections is being applied for the proportional system. For the 2024 election with 150-member proportional representation, the method involves multiplying the number of votes by 150 and then dividing it by the sum of votes received by all parties that passed 5% threshold (including by the votes of party for which the number of seats is determined with this calculation) to determine the number of seats the party will get in parliament. If after these calculations for all parties the number of total seats distributed is still below 150, the remaining seats will be proportionally distributed among the parties that crossed the 5% threshold.

On 6 February 2023, the Central Election Commission of Georgia adopted a decree introducing an electronic voter registration and voting system at most of the polling stations.