The 2017 Georgian local elections ( ka, საქართველოს ადგილობრივი თვითმმართველობის ორგანოების არჩევნები) were held on 21 October 2017 to elect the bodies of local government of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

: 2,058 members of representative councils (''sakrebulo'') and 64 mayors of

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. The votes went into second-round runoffs in six municipalities on 12 November 2017. The ruling

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ( ka, ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, ''Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo'') is a social democratic political ...

party won in all constituencies under the proportional contest and secured 62 out of 64 mayoral positions.

Background

There are two types of municipalities in Georgia: self-governing cities and self-governing communities. The representative councils (''sakrebulo'') and executive heads of municipalities – mayors are directly elected by the citizens of Georgia to a four-year term. The election date was appointed by the

President of Georgia President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

60 days prior to the polls and countersigned by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. The previous elections were held in two rounds in 2014. Most of the ''sakrebulo'' (council) and ''gamgebeli'' (mayoral) seats were won by the ruling

coalition.

Election campaign

The local non-governmental organizations monitoring the elections—the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) and the Transparency International Georgia—jointly assessed the pre-election environment as mostly peaceful and noted that, while political parties were noticeably active, "the ruling party's dominance was evident". The most serious incident in the pre-election campaign occurred in the village of Kizilajlo of

Marneuli Municipality Marneuli ( ka, მარნეულის მუნიციპალიტეტი, az, Marneuli Bələdiyyəsi) is a municipality in Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli. Its administrative center and main town is Marneuli. Location ...

in which the Georgian Dream's candidate and other persons were assaulted with a firearm at the party office on October 19. In the 2017 elections, the first ever openly-gay candidate ran for public office in Georgia. Republican Party candidate Nino Bolkvadze aimed to take her place in the city assembly of the capital of Georgia. "Bolkvadze, who is running for the Republican Party, a small opposition force, said she hoped her campaign would put the spotlight on gay rights and change outdated public perceptions of LGBT people."

2017 Tbilisi mayoral election

The 2017 Tbilisi mayoral election, ( ka, თბილისის მერის არჩევნები) was held on 21 October to elect the

Mayor of Tbilisi The Mayor of Tbilisi is an elected politician in Tbilisi. Before 2005 the mayors used to be appointed by the central government. In 2006 first mayoral elections were held in the history of the Republic of Georgia. The first elected mayor of Tbilisi ...

Tbilisi City Assembly The Tbilisi Sakrebulo ( ka, თბილისის საკრებულო, tr) is a representative body in the city government of Tbilisi, Georgia. It is also known in English as the Tbilisi City Council or Tbilisi Assembly. Sakrebulo ...

elections were held simultaneously. The main candidates of the mayoral election were

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was c ...

, former footballer and minister of energy from the ruling

coalition; journalist

Zaal Udumashvili Zaal (Zaliko) Udumashvili (born 27 February 1971) is a Georgian journalist and politician. He is a member of United National Movement Georgia and he was voted third at the Elections for Mayor of Tbilisi in 2017. Early life Udumashvili was born ...

from the UNM; independent candidate

Aleko Elisashvili Aleksandre (Aleko) Elisashvili (born 17 January 1978) is a 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. He was an i ...

, journalist and a member of the Tbilisi City Assembly; Elene Khoshtaria from

European Georgia European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

, journalist and a member of the parliament;

Irma Inashvili Irma Inashvili (born 6 July 1970) is a Georgian politician and journalist. She has been a member of the Parliament of Georgia since November 2016, representing the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia. She is the current deputy chairperson of the Parl ...

, leader of the

Alliance of Patriots of Georgia The Alliance of Patriots of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პატრიოტთა ალიანსი, ''Sakartvelos Patriotta Aliansi'', APG) is a political party in the republic of Georgia. It was founded in 2012 by lea ...

and a member of the parliament.

Opinion polls

Results

denotes a self-governing city.

References

{{Georgian elections

Local election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

Local elections in Georgia (country)

Background

Election campaign

2017 Tbilisi mayoral election

Opinion polls

Results

Results

See also

References