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Citizens ( ka, მოქალაქეები, tr) is a liberal political party in Georgia, which was founded on August 4, 2020. It is led by the runner-up candidate in the 2017 Tbilisi mayoral candidate
Aleko Elisashvili Aleksandre (Aleko) Elisashvili (born 17 January 1978) is a Georgians, Georgian political figure who has served in the Parliament of Georgia since 2020. Elisashvili started his political career as an activist within a civic preservation group. ...
. Citizens participated in the 2020 parliamentary election getting 1.33% of the vote and electing 2 MPs. For the 2024 parliamentary election it is a part of
Strong Georgia Strong Georgia (SG; Georgian: ძლიერი საქართველო, romanized: ''dzlieri sakartvelo'') is an informal political coalition of pro-European political parties in Georgia. Its platform has generally been placed on the cent ...
coalition. The party is strongly
pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
.


History

On December 7, 2018,
Aleko Elisashvili Aleksandre (Aleko) Elisashvili (born 17 January 1978) is a Georgians, Georgian political figure who has served in the Parliament of Georgia since 2020. Elisashvili started his political career as an activist within a civic preservation group. ...
, the runner-up candidate in the 2017 Tbilisi mayoral candidate, founded the
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
"Georgian Civil Movement". On 4 August 2020, ahead of the 2020 parliamentary election, Elisashvili turned the organization into a political party and renamed it ''Citizens''. 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. 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. From the start, Citizens were among the parties most willing to negotiate with the ruling
Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...
party to end the boycott. 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. On 29 January 2021, Citizens struck a deal with Georgian Dream, becoming the first opposition party to enter the parliament. In the 2021 local elections the party's nationwide vote dropped to 14,652 (0.83%). On 7 March 2023, the Georgian parliament, with the backing of Georgian Dream, elected Ioseliani as the
Public Defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...
. His mandate was subsequently terminated, with him being replaced by Ketevan Turazashvili. Citizens backed
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
against the introduction of the 'Foreign Agent Law', which has been criticized for its similarity to a
Russian law The primary and fundamental statement of laws in the Russian Federation is the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Statutes, like the Russian Civil Code and the Russian Criminal Code, are the predominant legal source of Russian laws. Hier ...
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 Mamuka Mdinaradze ( ka, მამუკა მდინარაძე; born 24 November 1978) is a Georgian politician and jurist. Education Mdinaradze graduated from the Law Faculty of the Tbilisi State University in 2000. In 2005, he became ...
in the parliament after the law's introduction. The party subsequently signed the
Georgian Charter The Georgian Charter ( Georgian: ''ქართული ქარტია'') is a plan introduced by President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili in response to the protests against foreign agents bill in 2023–2024. The goal of the charter is ...
initiated by the president
Salome Zourabichvili Salomé Nino Zourabichvili (born 18March 1952) is a French-born Georgian politician, former diplomat, and the fifth president of Georgia – the first female to be elected as president in the country's history. As a result of the constitutiona ...
that sets out goals for a possible future government. On 13 August 2024, Citizens decided to join the
Lelo for Georgia Lelo burti, Lelo for Georgia ( ka, ლელო საქართველოსთვის, tr, ) is a Liberalism, liberal political party in Georgia (country), Georgia. It was established in 2019 by two businessmen Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri ...
-led
Strong Georgia Strong Georgia (SG; Georgian: ძლიერი საქართველო, romanized: ''dzlieri sakartvelo'') is an informal political coalition of pro-European political parties in Georgia. Its platform has generally been placed on the cent ...
coalition for the 2024 parliamentary election.


Ideology

In the 2020 parliamentary election, Citizens was viewed as a
centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
or liberal-right party. However, since then its perception has shifted to a
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...
-leaning party with it generally being described as
centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
. 2024 Georgian Compass, despite placing the party in the liberal left corner, found it to be the most
socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...
out of the liberal opposition parties. The party's ideology has been described as
populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...
and
liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
. Citizens is strongly in favor of European integration with sources describing it as a
pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
party.


Electoral performance


Parliamentary


Local


References


External links


Party Facebook page
{{Georgian political parties Pro-European political parties in Georgia (country) Political parties established in 2020 2020 establishments in Georgia (country)