People's Power (Georgia)

People's Power (ხალხის ძალა) is a Georgian political party founded by Georgian MPs Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze, after they left the ruling Georgian Dream.

History
The movement was founded on 2 August 2022 by the Georgian MPs Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze, who had left the ruling Georgian Dream party on 28 June. They said that the reason for their departure was the disagreement with the Georgian Dream on the tactical issues, but they remained in agreement on core values and that the movement would remain aligned with the Georgian Dream party in the Parliament. The leaders of the movement said that they wanted to speak more directly about "truth that is hidden behind the scenes of Georgian politics", such as the Western involvement in it.

As of October 2022, nine deputies had already joined the movement, depriving the Georgian Dream of its parliamentary majority. The deputies in People's Power decided to still support the Georgian Dream-led government.

On 29 December 2022, People's Power announced that it would introduce a foreign agent law to the Parliament of Georgia. The bill proposed that all non-governmental organizations and media outlets should disclose sources of their funding and register themselves as "agents of foreign influence" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. This led to the 2023 Georgian protests. The president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, supported the protesters and said she would veto the bill. The parliament withdrew the bill after protests.

On March 18, 2024, a party congress was convened, which reorganised the movement into a political party and elected MP Sozar Subari as its chairman.

Political positions
The movement supports limiting foreign funding of the NGOs to curb foreign influence. It claims to defend Georgia's sovereignty from external influences and has been described as sovereigntist.

The movement has notably criticized the United States foreign policy in Georgia. In a number of public letters, its members have questioned US funding for Georgia, saying that it only served to strengthen American interests in Georgia at the expense of Georgia's state institutions and sovereignty. It has accused the United States Embassy of interfering in the country's internal affairs and undermining the Georgian judiciary. The movement has accused a number of Georgian political parties (including the largest opposition party, United National Movement) and NGOs of being American agents. The movement has accused the USAID of "attacking Georgia's sovereignty" and "trying to subjugate the Georgian judiciary to foreign control".

The members of the party have condemned "LGBT propaganda" in Georgia, which its members consider as erasing Georgian identity, conscience, faith and traditions. People’s Power has cited Western countries, such as Spain and Great Britain, as those in which LGBT propaganda has resulted in a massive upsurge of people who identify as LGBT. Mikheil Kavelashvili cited Donald Trump, Victor Orban and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as leaders who speak up against LGBT propaganda. Dimitri Khundadze has called out the United States as the promoter of LGBT propaganda in Georgia and has cited pride parade as the LGBT propaganda. In February 2024, he praised the Czech parliament for not supporting same-sex marriage, while saying that LGBT propaganda was a tool to deconstruct the institution of family and turn people into a "stateless biological mass" with no identity and a critical thinking.

Leadership
The party is led by the Chair, who is the leader of the party's political council. The current chairman is Sozar Subari.


 * Sozar Subari (2024–)