With less than a week to go before Georgia’s crucial parliamentary elections, the campaign has entered its final, most intense phase. On October 2026, some 3.5 million Georgians will be able to vote in what has been described as a “referendum” between the West and Russia, and the most important election in the country in a long time.
With the elections coming in the shadow of continued Russian aggression against Ukraine, the key issue for the ruling Georgian Dream party is the choice between “war and peace.” The pro-Western opposition parties, on the other hand, are tied to the President’s Georgian Charter, which calls for a year of technocratic government rule to pass European reforms. This, and the overall seriousness of the situation, has made the campaign less funny than before. Still, opposition parties are trying to find their own ways to compete for voters. And it would be wrong to limit oneself to what the opposition parties have to offer, because, in this election, everybody is a campaigner – everyone from watchdogs to civic groups to individual Georgians, and everywhere from families to get-togethers to lively TikTok trends.
Below are the main highlights of how different parties and coalitions are trying to convince voters to make them their first choice.
(41) Georgian Dream – Darker Blue
(The incumbent ruling party)
As the richest of all political forces in Georgia, it was no surprise that the campaign banners of the ruling Georgian Dream party were the first to flood the country. At first, it was big blue and modest banners on every street corner, featuring the mashup of Georgian Dream and EU logos with a message that promised to go to Europe “only with peace, dignity, and prosperity.”
Then things got darker. Perhaps realizing that this didn’t scare voters enough to support the increasingly authoritarian ruling party, Georgian Dream decided to bring more clarity that they were the ones who would spare the country “what happened to Ukraine”. This is how one morning Georgians woke up to shocking “War vs. Peace” banners in the streets, contrasting images of wartime devastation in Ukraine with the peace and prosperity of sunny Georgia. Then came a new package of “no to agents” ads, showing desperate-looking opposition leaders being led by the leash, presumably of the Global War Party.
Nor do other GD ads exude positivity. There are, of course, some “economy” videos that take pride in what has been achieved and promise more of the same, but they hardly dominate the campaign. It’s more common to see creepy videos portraying opposition figures as pro-war, pro-gay, and anti-church, or countless obscure social media accounts dedicated to smearing government critics. But that’s hardly a shock anymore.
A bigger shock was one campaign video with a floating Georgian flag and an unusually positive feel of one of those motivational clips commercial banks commission for Independence Day celebrations. The shock was justified: the clip ended up ruining one of Georgia’s leading advertising agencies, prompting a walkout after employees found out too late that their director was secretly in charge of the production.
(5) UNM-Unity: Simply Red
(United National Movement + Strategy Agmashenebeli+Various Prominent Faces)
The United National Movement, the former ruling party, is a party of loyalty: loyalty to its imprisoned leader Mikheil Saakashvili, to the color red, and to the number 5. And these three will be key for the party to retain the loyalty of its voter base after it ceded part of its leadership to the Coalition for Change, another opposition alliance. Promising “prosperity in Europe” over “poverty in isolation”, the alliance has set out five key priorities: EU membership, income growth, protection of pensioners, strong families, and an end to price monopolies.
Special attention is paid to pensioners, possibly aimed at the elderly voters who never stopped loving Misha, promising them everything from pension increase to cancellation of pension loans (long time plague of elderly Georgians) and free medicines. They also promise to introduce child benefits and school meals to help families and get the country out of the demographic crisis, and the platform also includes “Mikheil Saakashvili’s billion-Lari fund” to bring back Georgian emigrants, a constituency where UNM is known to dominate.
Social media is full of campaign photos with red flags, number 5 posters, very UNM-esque pictures of vibrant rallies, and photos of Saakashvili’s lively salutes. The ex-president’s transnational energy is also evident in the way their ads are dominated by images of passports, airplanes, and suitcases: the introduction of visa-free travel with the U.S. while maintaining the same benefits with the EU is among Unity/UNM’s key campaign promises. The street aesthetic of the UNM-led alliance, on the other hand, remains modest and straightforward: red banners simply call to vote for “unity” and get rid of the Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili.
(4) Coalition for Change – All Fun & Games
(Ahali + Girchi – More Freedom + Droa)
Unlike the two above, the Coalition for Change is neither the current nor the former ruling party, even though it’s led by people associated with the latter. And yet, on the streets, their campaign looks like the one actually run by a ruling party: if you see a happy family beaming at you from a greenish banner as if everything is fine, it’s probably one of the Coalition for Change’s ads. And there have been many of these “future is yours” banners dominating the street race around the country – the Coalition is known as one of the wealthiest opposition parties.
Their social media is even more vibrant, leaving the viewers at times confused about whether they are called to vote or invited to join a cult. There are countless reels of the Coalition’s campaign activities, featuring upbeat music (singing “Follow me! Follow me! Follow me!”🎵), dancing people, spotlight-loving leaders, and young campaigners moving so energetically that you can hear your own bones cracking (the 30s are no joke). Other clips are less about “fun” and more about “funny,” especially those in which the Coalition’s young faces – Tsotne Koberidze and Boris Chele Kurua – use some creative storytelling to mobilize voters.
For those wondering what the four Coalition leaders actually plan to do, and are not satisfied with clips of them just chatting around the table, the right-libertarian-leaning union has now come up with a “4-4-4” platform. The platform foresees unveiling initiatives for systemic chances in four priority policy areas just four days after (if) the opposition wins the parliamentary majority, including 1) immediate opening of accession negotiations with the EU, 2) abolition of the “Russian” law and other anti-democratic laws, 3) tax cuts for families and small and medium businesses, and 4) bringing education funding levels up to the EU average by 2028.
(9) Strong Georgia – Take good care of my baby (and do a flip)
(Lelo for Georgia + Anna Dolidze’s For People + Aleko Elisashvili’s Citizens + Freedom Square)
Among the opposition alliances, Strong Georgia is the most diverse, and it shows: despite being one of the first to roll out a consistent platform (“Ilia’s Path”), the campaign of a coalition of ex-bankers, progressives, and academics has struggled somewhat to have a clear defining line. The initial advertising was something between a kind of anti-flu medicine commercial, with a black and white “unkept promises” section that fades into bright colors of a promised future, or laundry powder TV ads promising “new and clean leaders”.
That’s all changed lately: the ex-bankers apparently had enough in their accounts to get themselves bank-like commercials (only this time it didn’t cause a walkout at the ad agency in charge). The most viral one shows Lelo leader Mamuka Khazaradze driving “west” in his vintage Ford Mustang while popular Georgian singers passionately perform a patriotic song (ICYMI: Khazaradze rolled out this Mustang for his campaign travels months ago and hasn’t let it go, even though he’s come under fire for being tone-deaf and even though the old car literally caught fire during one stop). And, most importantly, they decided to bring back a popular “men care” theme from the 2021 elections: while Khazaradze drives around, his pal Badri Japaridze offers to babysit children so that a family can get to a polling station.
Those who are not impressed by the rich tastes of the businessmen can look elsewhere – to Dr. Anna Dolidze charming her fan base by working on a scientific project while riding the train; or to the educators of Freedom Square presenting plans to depoliticize schools; or simply go to TikTok and watch Aleko Elisashvili score “aura points” by doing flips, delivering bangers, and being the absolute “rizzler”.
(25) Gakharia’s For Georgia – Real Slim Shady (He Knows🎵)
(Former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia + Various former officials & former and incumbent MPs)
There’s plenty of blue, red, green, and yellow on Georgian streets these days, but you won’t see much of For Georgia‘s purple anywhere: the former Prime Minister’s party is known to be one of the poorest financially, but one of the richest in human resources: the party appears to have a wide regional network of loyalists and activists who are going do the job instead.
And you won’t see many For Georgia ads on TV either after the state media agency did its best to deny the party its due airtime. But again, not to worry: Mr. Gakharia will go to the TV stations himself, enthusiastically confront talk show hosts about his controversial past, and produce reels that will flood various social media platforms hours later. Wherever you scroll these days, you will see Mr. Gakharia’s lean face trying to convince you of something – either in his black suit with purple tie and similarly purple background, or in his white shirt and blue jeans from his campaign meetings. And that something he’s trying to convince you of is often about how his tenure as prime minister was a shining corruption-free island under Georgian Dream rule, or how honest and hardworking civil servants deserve better and how he will make sure they don’t suffer from revanchism in case of government change.
The rare campaign ads that do appear here and there show the ex-PM promising everything his former party promised – except it’s “for real”: one ad says “To Europe with real peace, real dignity, real prosperity,” while another promises to bring “peace” to Georgia by getting rid of both the GD and the UNM. And that peace also envisages more social reforms, the party’s platform suggests.
(10) Labor Party – You Asked For It
Campaigning for the 2021 local elections, the eccentric leader of the Labor Party, Shalva Natelashvili, recited a famous Georgian poem in which he claimed to be the one who would never stop “waking and shaking” his country. Three years later, however, it took opinion polls that ranked him at 4-5% to shake him enough to wake up and start campaigning. Then, suddenly remembering that he also led the “only” truly independent and left-wing party in Georgia, Natelashvili quickly drafted a 10-point program promising “European socialism” to Georgians long plagued by oligarchy and wild capitalism.
But if the Labor Party does get enough support to make it into Parliament, it’s likely to be less about their socialist ideas and more about Natelashvili’s sense of humor and the memes he relentlessly posts on Facebook.
(36) Girchi – Everyone is stupid but me
Unlike the Labor Party, the four libertarian MPs who lead the Girchi Party have worked hard over the past four years to keep their potential supporters close. The Girchi campaign has taken on an anti-establishment tone, condemning both the ruling party and the mainstream opposition while positioning itself as the only force true to its ideas. This “everyone is bad” rebellion, however, comes with a chilling promise: to advance its agenda, the party is willing to work with anyone, including the Georgian Dream.
What exactly are these ideas? Girchi’s campaign comes with many different clips, some promising to abolish things like mandatory technical inspections for cars, pension funds, and various taxes, others offering competition-based education reforms, locally elected judges, or a more active use of plebiscites and referendums in policy making. In short, if you are a fan of direct democracy, or for some reason think Georgian elections are fun and would like to see more of them, Girchi is for you. Unless, of course, you think these ideas are not worth a deal with the devil.
(8) Alliance of Patriots/Alt Info – Robbers Got Robbed
Fairness is the last quality you’d expect from Georgia’s far-right forces, but if there was one moment when their concerns seemed fair and legitimate, it was when they complained that the ruling party had stolen their campaign. At least before assuming that they, too, might have stolen those well-tested messages from other foreign populist forces. The Alliance of Patriots, a nativist party has now joined forces with other far-right groups, including the violent Alt-Info which has recently somewhat fallen out of favor with the ruling GD. Together, they will try to convince their conservative voters that, unlike the Georgian Dream, they really mean it when they promise anti-liberal destruction.
While the fiery leaders of Alt-Info roam around recruiting young and insecure men, the main voice of the campaign is good old Irma Inashvili, a journalist who is both the top of the electoral list and the only woman among the top 20 parliamentary candidates. And in the main campaign clip, it’s her familiar voice that calls for voting for a “great union of national forces” for those whose main priority is “homeland, faith, and Georgian thinking and culture.”
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