Government & politics — Georgia

The Western name may derive from the Persian designation "gurgan" meaning "Land of the Wolves"; the native name "Sak'art'velo" means "Land of the Kartvelians" and refers to the core central Georgian region of Kartli

• History: Previous 1921, 1978 (based on 1977 Soviet Union constitution); latest approved 24 August 1995,
• effective 17 October 1995 Amendments: Proposed as a draft law supported by more than one-half of the Parliament membership or by petition of at least 200,000 voters; passage requires support by at least three-fourths of the Parliament membership in two successive sessions three months apart and the signature and promulgation by the president of Georgia; amended several times, last in 2020 (legislative electoral system revised)

• chief of state: President Mik
• heil KAVELASHVILI (since 29 December 2024) head of government: Pri
• Cabinet of Ministers election/appointment process: president elected by a 300-member College of Electors; prime minister nominated by Parliament,
• appointed by the president most recent election date: 14
• December 2024 election results: 2024: Mikheil KAVELASHVILI (Georgian D
• ream Party) was formally inaugurated on 29 December 2024 2024: Irakli KOBAKHIDZ
• E approved as prime minister by Parliamentary vote 84-10 2018: Salome ZOURABICHVILI elected president in second round; percent of vote in second round - Salome ZOURABICHVILI (independent, backed by Georgian Dream) 59.5%, Grigol VASHADZE (UNM) 40.5%; Irakli GARIBASHVILI approved as prime minis
• ter by Parliamentary vote 89-2 expected date of next election: 2029

Description

Unicameral Parliament or Sakartvelos Parlamenti (150 seats statutory, 140 as of May 2023); 120 members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed, party-list proportional representation vote and 30 directly elected in single-seat constituencies by at least 50% majority vote, with a runoff if needed; no party earning less than 40% of total votes may claim a majority; members serve 4-year terms)

Elections

Last held on 31 October and 21 November 2020 (next to be held in October 2024)

Election Results

• Percent of vote by party - Georgian Dream 48.2%, UNM 27.2%, European Georgia 3.8%, Lelo 3.2%, Strategy 3.2%, Alliance of Patriots 3.1%, Girchi 2.9%, Citizens 1.3%, Labor 1%
• seats by party - Georgian Dream 90, UNM 36, European Georgia 5, Lelo 4, Strategy 4, Alliance of Patriots 4, Girchi 4, Citizens 2, Labor 1
• composition as of October 2021 - men 117, women 27, percent of women 19.3%

• Highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 28 judges organized into several specialized judicial chambers; number of judges determined by the president of Georgia); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges); note - the Abkhazian and Ajarian Autonomous republics each have a supreme court and a
• hierarchy of lower courts Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges nominated by the High Council of Justice (a 14-member body consisting of the Supreme Court chairperson, common court judges, and appointees of the president of Georgia) and appointed by Parliament; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges appointed 3 each by the president, by Parliament, and by the Supreme Court judges;
• judges appointed for 10-year terms Subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; regional (town) and district courts

9 regions (mkharebi, singular - mkhare), 1 city (kalaki), and 2 autonomous republics (avtomnoy respubliki, singular - avtom respublika) Regions: Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta Mtianeti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida Kartli; note - the breakaway region of South Ossetia consists of the northern part of Shida Kartli, eastern slivers of the Imereti region and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, and part of western Mtskheta-Mtianeti City: Tbilisi Autonomous republics: Abkhazia or Ap'khazet'is Avtonomiuri Respublika (Sokhumi), Ajaria or Acharis Avtonomiuri Respublika (Bat'umi) Note 1: The administrative centers of the two autonomous republics are shown in parentheses Note 2: The United States recognizes the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be part of Georgia

• Alliance of Patriots [Davit TARKHAN-MOURAVI]
• Citizens Party [Aleko ELISASHVILI]
• Democratic Movement-United Georgia or DM-UC [Nino BURJANADZE]
• European Georgia-Movement for Liberty [Giga BOKERIA]
• European Socialists [Fridon INJIA]
• For Georgia [Giorgi GAKHARIA]
• Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia [Irakli KOBAKHIDZE]
• Girchi-More Freedom [Zurab JAPARIDZE]
• Labor Party [Shalva NATELASHVILI]
• Lelo for Georgia [Mamuka KHAZARADZE]
• New Political Centre-Girchi [Iago KHVICHIA]
• Republican Party [Khatuna SAMNIDZE]
• Strategy Aghmashenebeli [Giorgi VASHADZE]
• United National Movement or UNM [Levan KHABEISHVILI]

• No Citizenship by descent only: At least one pa
• No Residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

ADB, BSEC, CD, CE, CPLP (associate), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-11, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Robin L. DUNNIGAN (since 12 October 2023) Embassy: 29 Georgian-American Friendship Avenue, Didi Dighomi, Tbilisi, 0131 Mailing address: 7060 Tbilisi Place, Washington, DC 20521-7060

Telephone

[995] (32) 227-70-00

FAX

[995] (32) 253-23-10

Email address and website

• askconsultbilisi@state.gov
• https://ge.usembassy.gov/

Chief of Mission

Ambassador David ZALKALIANI (since 7 June 2022)

Chancery

1824 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

Telephone

[1] (202) 387-2390

FAX

[1] (202) 387-0864

Email address and website

• embgeo.usa@mfa.gov.ge
• https://georgiaembassyusa.org/contact/

Consulate(s) general

New York