National Forum quits GD coalition and Parliamentary majority

The National Forum, one of the parties of the Georgian Dream (GD) coalition, today announced it had quit the coalition and the Parliament majority, and will participate independently in the October Parliamentary Elections.

Furthermore, National Forum politicians with official jobs in the legislative body have stood down from their jobs. 

The National Forum, with a six-person faction in the legislative body, revealed its decision after two other GD coalition parties (Republican Party of Georgia and Conservative Party of Georgia) announced their future intentions last week. 

The Republicans said it would exit the Georgian Dream coalition and run independently in the Parliamentary race but it would remain in the majority and its members would retain high posts in Cabinet until the October elections. 

Similarly, the Conservatives announced it would stay within the coalition and majority, and would consult its own party members on how it will take part in the upcoming elections. 

The main party of the coalition, Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia, with 48 -person faction in the legislative body, has come out and said there will be no Georgian Dream coalition challenging in this year’s Parliamentary Elections.

Industry Will Save Georgia, the final member party of the Georgian Dream coalition, has not yet announced its future plans. 

• The Georgian Dream coalition was established prior to the 2012 Parliamentary Elections to defeat United National Movement (UNM) as the ruling government in Georgia.

Since this morning when National Forum left the majority in Parliament, the party’s leader Gubaz Sanikidze quit his post as Deputy Parliament Speaker. Other members of the party with leading jobs in the legislative body have also stood down.

Before National Forum decided to exit the Georgian Dream coalition and majority, the parliamentary majority was composed of seven factions and consequently was represented with 88 members in the 150-seat Parliament of Georgia. 

The Georgian Dream coalition was created  for 2012 parliamentary elections. Photo by the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia webpage. 

The separation of the National Forum will not derange the majority, as it now consisted of six factions and 82 members. 

However, if the Republicans which have 10 lawmakers in Parliament change its mind and quit the majority, the majority will split and Parliament of Georgia will face inevitable structural changes. 

When created for the 2012 Parliamentary Elections by ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian Dream coalition was composed of: 

• The Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party; 
• The Republican Party of Georgia;  
• Our Georgia - Free Democrats; 
• The People’s Party of Georgia; 
• The Conservative Party of Georgia;  
• Industry Will Save Georgia;
• The National Forum;
• And several other individuals.

The People’s Party quit the coalition in 2013 and the Our Georgia-Free Democrats did the same in 2014 as controversies emerged between some coalition members or with Ivanishvili.

As of today, since the exit of the National Forum from the majority in Parliament, the situation is the following: 

• The Parliamentary majority has 82 lawmakers in the 150-seat legislative body; 
• The Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia has 48 members;  
• The Republicans have 10 members; 
• The Conservatives have six members; 
• The Industrials have six members; 
• Independent MPs – Strong Regions faction have six members; and
• Non-partial, independent MPs faction has six members.

The last two factions were created after the Georgian Dream coalition won the 2012 Parliamentary Elections and defeated UNM, who ruled the country for nine years.