Alliance of Patriots of Georgia

Alliance of Patriots of Georgia საქართველოს პატრიოტთა ალიანსი
File:Alliance of Patriots of Georgia.jpg
Chairman	David Tarkhan-Mouravi
General Secretary	Irma Inashvili
Founded	Founded on December 19, 2012. The state registration of the party became official on January 22, 2013.
Headquarters	Tbilisi, Georgia
Ideology	Moderate Conservatism
Political position	Center-right
Colours	Red, Gold, White
Seats in Parliament	0 / 150
Website
www.patriots.ge
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (registered short name - the Georgian Patriots) is a political party, founded on December 19, 2012. The state registration of the party became official on January 22, 2013.

The Official Status of the Party Assigned by the State

The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia has the official status of a qualified political party, as assigned by the state. In Georgia, such a status is assigned only to those political parties, which succeeded to surpass a 4-percent threshold in municipal or parliamentary elections, and have municipal or parliamentary elected deputies.

After the party’s state registration in the beginning of 2013, the municipal elections in Georgia were held just once, in the summer of 2014. And due to the fact that the party was still in its formative stage, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia was able to field candidates for those elections in 41 municipal districts out of 63 districts of Georgia. These 41 districts are not densely populated, and only half of the voters of Georgia live in these districts, while the other part of voters live in 22 districts, where the party didn’t field its candidates. Summarily in all the districts, where the party’s candidates competed, the party won 11.8% of the votes. However, when this figure was divided into all districts, including those in which the party was unable to participate, the final average percentage of the party across the country came to 4.7% of the votes. Nevertheless, this result enabled the party to surpass the electoral threshold and acquire the official status of a qualified political party, and today the party has 44 municipal deputies in 28 districts over the country.

Tasks and Objectives of the Party

As it’s officially declared in the charter of the party, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia aims to promote in society a center-right ideology, moderate conservatism, Georgian spirit, culture and traditions, as well as democratic values.

It is also declared in the charter of the party and in its official program that the party stands for the formation of a post-industrial economy, based on the knowledge industry, as well as an open democratic society, grounded in human and general Christian values.

The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia strongly supports the full European integration of Georgia, including the political, economic, social, and cultural spheres. However, at the same time the party believes that the Georgian national and cultural values should be completely preserved and protected in the process of the European integration.

Founders of the Party

The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia was founded by the leaders of the Resistance Movement, as well as by different public figures and former members of the Objective Media Union.

1. David Tarkhan-Mouravi, the Leader and the Chairman of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia, as well as the Leader of the Georgian Assembly of Princes and Nobles; former Head of the Resistance Movement, which played a decisive role in the downfall of Saakashvili’s tyrannical regime, a Nominee for the Noble Peace Prize 2013;
2. Irma Inashvili, the General Secretary of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and one of its leaders, former Head of the Objective TV/Radio Media Union, a Nominee for the Noble Peace Prize 2013;
3. Ada Marshania, the Political Secretary of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and one of its leaders, a former Deputy of three Convocations of the Parliament of Georgia, and currently a Deputy of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia;
4. Giorgi Lomia, the Political Secretary of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and one of its leaders, the Chairman of the League of Sportsmen of Georgia, the Vice-President of the Georgian Seibukai Kyokushin Karate Federation, the world record breaker in Tameshiwari (broke 6 tied together baseball bats with a single kick), and a Nominee for the Noble Peace Prize 2013;
5. Soso Manjavidze, a historian, left the party in August 2014 and is not connected with it;
6. Manuchar Machaidze, the legendary Georgian football player, former Captain of the Football Club "Dinamo Tbilisi", a former Deputy of the Parliament of Georgia, and currently a Deputy of Tbilisi City Council, as well as the Political Secretary of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and one of its leaders;
7. David Tedoradze, a well-known Georgian poet and writer, the Chairman of Adjara Union of Writers and a Member of the Board of the Georgian Union of Writers, as well as the Head of Adjara Regional Branch of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and one of its leaders;
8. Vazha Otarashvili, a well-known Georgian poet and writer, former Deputy Chairman and currently a Member of the Georgian Union of Writers, as well as the Political Secretary of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and one of its leaders;
9. Erekle Saghliani, a well-known Georgian poet, writer, publicist, reciter, actor, and public figure, a member and one of the leaders of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia;
10. Archil Lekishvili, a musician, saxophonist, lecturer, a Laureate of the 7th Trans-Caucasian Music Competition, former Chairman of the Labor Union of the Tbilisi Center for Music and Culture, and currently the Political Secretary of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia;
11. Levan Tediashvili, the world-renowned Georgian wrestler, a two-time Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion in Freestyle Wrestling, as well as the World Champion and three-time European Champion in Sambo Wrestling, currently a member and one of the leaders of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia.
12. Ruvim Roman Fin, former Director of the Canadian Institute for the Study of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, dissident and political prisoner of Soviet times, and a three-time Nominee for the Nobel Prize: in 2011 and 2012 for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and in 2014 for the Nobel Peace Prize. Roman Fin devoted his whole life to struggle for justice, human rights and peace until his death in 2015. He was the member and one of the leaders of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia.

A bit later the party was also joined by other noted people, such as Emzar Kvitsiani, former Georgian Military Commander and Warlord of the Kodori Valley, as well as George Maghlakelidze, Doctor of Economic Sciences, and a former program coordinator of the World Bank of Georgia and the international financial institutions of Georgia.

The Massive Electoral Fraud in Sagarejo District

In November 2015, there were held By-Elections for single mandate constituencies in the two districts of Georgia, namely Sagarejo and Martvili. The Georgian Patriots’ candidate in the Sagarejo district won 46% of the votes, while its candidate in the Martvili district received 27.5% of the votes. However, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia officially states that the By-Election in the Sagarejo district was falsified, and that this massive electoral fraud was organized and implemented personally by the Minister of Defense, Tinatin Khidasheli.

As its candidate for the Sagarejo By-Election, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia put forward Irma Inashvili, who was participating in this election along with the Republican candidate from the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, Tamar Khidasheli. During the election, the Minister of Defense, Tinatin Khidasheli, who is a leader of the Republican Party and at the same time is the relative of the Sagarejo electoral candidate Tamar Khidasheli, used administrative military resources in favor of Tamar Khidasheli and was personally involved in counting ballots and drawing up "official" protocols.

Not only Irma Inashvili and the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia declared that the By-Election in the Sagarejo district was falsified. All other opposition parties publicly stated the same. In addition, MP Gogi Topadze, who is one of the leaders of the Georgian Dream coalition, made the same statement directly on TV. And the Deputy Minister of Diaspora Issues, Sandro Bregadze (who also is a member of the ruling coalition), even had to resign from his post due to his public statements about the massive electoral fraud in the Sagarejo district.

The Defense Minister’s interference in the electoral process was criticized by the radio "Tavisupleba" (Freedom), the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), by different newspapers such as the "Kronika" (Chronicle) and "Sakartvelo da Msoplio" (Georgia And The World), as well as by the Kakheti Information Center, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), and various experts and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

On November 8, 2015, more than 18,500 people participated in the protest rally against the massive electoral fraud in the Sagarejo district. The protestors came out to the streets of Tbilisi under the slogan "NO to Falsified Elections!". Afterwards the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia launched an investigation into this case of massive electoral fraud. The investigation was launched under the article 332, Paragraph 1 (Abuse of Official Position) of the Criminal Code of Georgia.

Positioning of the Party in the Political Spectrum of Georgia

The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia is positioning itself as the largest and strongest opposition party in Georgia. Over the 3 years of its existence, the party organized and held multiple large-scale protest actions. In December 2014, more than 12,000 people participated in the party’s rally in Batumi. In January 2015, the party gathered 25,000 protestors during its demonstration in the capital of Tbilisi, and in the same city in November 2015, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia gathered an impressive 18,500 people during its rally against the massive electoral fraud in the Sagarejo district. At the same time to support the protest against the gross electoral fraud, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia began a long-term hunger strike, which lasted for 16 days with more than 103 people taking part in this protest action. The protestors on hunger strike stayed vigilantly under an open sky along with the leaders of the party (the relevant videos of the party’s rallies and protest actions can be seen by the links, indicated in the section of references).

Currently the party is preparing for the Parliamentary Election, which will be held in Georgia in October 2016. This will be the first parliamentary election in the history of the party’s existence. According to the results of the "EPN Research" company, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia is the major opposition force in the country with 23% of the respondents stating that in the upcoming Parliamentary Election they will vote for the party. The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia took second place in the survey after the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, which was named by 31% of the respondents. "EPN Research" company specializes in public opinion studies and recently conducted a survey in large cities and towns of Georgia with the aim to identify what political parties the Georgian population prefers, and whom they are going to vote for in Parliamentary Election 2016.

Another simple fact bears witness to the growing indications of the party’s popularity. On January 31, 2016, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia held a Congress, where it invited 1,200 party delegates, which in itself is a very big figure for Georgia. However, the number of attendees exceeded all expectations with more than 4,500 people attending the Congress on their own. Since the space reserved for the venue, the Courtyard by Marriott Tbilisi, was not enough to accommodate such a large number of people, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia and the participants had to move to the nearby Pushkin Park on Freedom Square, where the party continued its Congress under the open sky.

Headquarters of the Party

The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia has its representative offices in all large cities and towns of Georgia with headquarters, located in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, at the Cinema House near the Rustaveli Metro.

References

http://patriots.ge/the-alliance-of-patriots-of-georgia-is-the-major-opposition-force-in-the-country-according-to-epn-researchs-recent-survey/