Citizens (Georgia)

File:Aleko Elisashvili.jpg, the leader of Citizens, in 2024]]

On December 7, 2018, Aleko Elisashvili, the runner-up candidate in the 2017 Tbilisi mayoral candidate, founded the NGO "Georgian Civil Movement".{{Cite web|url=https://imedinews.ge/ge/politika/88613/aleko-elisashvilma-saqartvelos-samoqalaqo-modzraoba-daapudzna|title =ალეკო ელისაშვილმა "საქართველოს სამოქალაქო მოძრაობა" დააფუძნა}} On 4 August 2020, ahead of the 2020 parliamentary election, Elisashvili turned the organization into a political party and renamed it Citizens.{{Cite web|url=https://civil.ge/ka/archives/361465|title = ალეკო ელისაშვილმა ახალი პოლიტიკური პარტია "მოქალაქეები" წარადგინა| date=4 August 2020 }}

In the election, the party won 25,508 (1.33%) votes and managed to enter parliament with two seats, those being allocated to Elisashvili and Levan Ioseliani.{{Cite web|url=https://results.cec.gov.ge/#/en-us/election_43;path=election_43/dashboard|title=2020 Georgian parliamentary election results|access-date=2021-06-02|archive-date=2021-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104235435/https://results.cec.gov.ge/#/en-us/election_43;path=election_43/dashboard|url-status=dead}} Elisashvili additionally ran in the Saburtalo constituency, where he received 14,181 (19.38%) votes in the first round finishing in the second place. The runoff election in the district as well as all over the country was boycotted by Elisashvili and the party along with the entire opposition on the grounds of election fraud.{{cite web |url=http://gtarchive.georgiatoday.ge/news/23124/Opposition-Boycotts-2nd-Round-of-Elections%2C-Their-Candidates-Still-Remain-on-Ballot |title=Opposition Boycotts 2nd Round of Elections, Their Candidates Still Remain on Ballot |publisher=Georgia Today |date=21 November 2020 |author=Ana Dumbadze }}

From the start, Citizens were among the parties most willing to negotiate with the ruling Georgian Dream party to end the boycott.{{cite web |url=https://civil.ge/archives/386913 |title=The Dispatch – December 11 |publisher=Civil Georgia |date=12 December 2020 }} The party ditched the united opposition and preferred to talk with the ruling party directly. Elisashvili named electoral reform as the condition for him ending the boycott.{{cite web |url=https://civil.ge/archives/389779 |title=The Dispatch – December 30 |publisher=Civil Georgia |date=31 December 2020 }} On 29 January 2021, Citizens struck a deal with Georgian Dream, becoming the first opposition party to enter the parliament.{{cite web |url=https://civil.ge/archives/394391 |title=Two Citizens' MPs Strike Deal with GD, Enter Parliament |publisher=Civil Georgia |date=29 January 2021 }}

File:Ioseliani (cropped - wide).jpg Levan Ioseliani in 2024]]

In the 2021 local elections the party's nationwide vote dropped to 14,652 (0.83%).{{cite web |url=https://civil.ge/archives/446355/amp |title=2021 Municipal Elections: Outcomes, Winners, Trends |publisher=Civil Georgia |date=6 October 2021 }} On 7 March 2023, the Georgian parliament, with the backing of Georgian Dream, elected Ioseliani as the Public Defender.{{cite web |url=https://civil.ge/archives/529358 |title=Georgia Parliament Appoints Levan Ioseliani as Public Defender |publisher=Civil Georgia |date=7 March 2023 }} His mandate was subsequently terminated, with him being replaced by Ketevan Turazashvili.{{cite web |url=https://www.interpressnews.ge/ka/profiles/212-ketevan-turazashvili/ |title=პროფილი: ქეთევან თურაზაშვილი |date=27 July 1980 |publisher=Inter Press News }}

Citizens backed protests against the introduction of the 'Foreign Agent Law', which has been criticized for its similarity to a Russian law that was used to crack down on civil society. On 15 April 2024, Elisashvili made international headlines for punching a Georgian Dream MP Mamuka Mdinaradze in the parliament after the law's introduction.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/15/georgian-mp-punches-opponent-in-face-in-brawl-over-foreign-agents-bill |title=Georgian MP punches opponent in face in brawl over 'foreign agents' bill |work=The Guardian |date=15 April 2024 }} The party subsequently signed the Georgian Charter initiated by the president Salome Zourabichvili that sets out goals for a possible future government.{{cite web |date=3 June 2024 |title=Opposition Parties Sign Georgian Charter |url=https://civil.ge/archives/611114 |publisher=Civil Georgia}} On 13 August 2024, Citizens decided to join the Lelo for Georgia-led Strong Georgia coalition for the 2024 parliamentary election.{{cite web |url=https://civil.ge/archives/620160/amp |title=Aleko Elisashvili of "Citizens" Joins Coalition "Strong Georgia" |publisher=Civil Georgia |date=17 August 2024 }}

In the 2020 parliamentary election, Citizens was viewed as a centrist or liberal-right party.{{cite web |url=https://southcaucasus.fes.de/news-list/e/georgias-political-landscape.html |title=Georgia's Political Landscape |publisher= Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung |date=18 October 2021 }} However, since then its perception has shifted to a left-leaning party with it generally being described as centre-left.{{cite web |url=https://politicsgeo.com/article/16 |title=Anti-Western Propaganda – The Georgian Dream's All-purpose Fix |publisher=GEOpolitics journal |author=Sergi Kapanadze |date=3 December 2023 }} 2024 Georgian Compass, despite placing the party in the liberal left corner, found it to be the most socially conservative out of the liberal opposition parties.{{cite web |url=https://geocompass.ge/ka/results/compass# |title=საარჩევნო კომპასი საპარლამენტო არჩევნები: პოლიტიკური სურათი |publisher=Geo Compass }} The party's ideology has been described as populism and liberalism. Citizens is strongly in favor of European integration with sources describing it as a pro-European party.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.facebook.com/moqalaqeebi/ Party Facebook page]

{{Georgian political parties}}

Category:Pro-European political parties in Georgia (country)

Category:Political parties established in 2020

Category:2020 establishments in Georgia (country)