The 2021 Georgian local elections ( ka, საქართველოს ადგილობრივი თვითმმართველობის ორგანოების არჩევნები) were held on 2 and 30 October to elect the bodies of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Background

19 April agreement

On 19 April 2021, 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 and the opposition signed an agreement, which ended a six-month

political crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by an ...

stemming from the contested 2020 parliamentary elections. The agreement stipulated snap parliamentary elections if the Georgian Dream party would garner less than 43% of the vote in the October 2021 local elections. It also envisaged a change in the electoral system at the local level: 4:1 proportion of proportional and majoritarian seats in five major cities and 2:1 proportion in all others. At the same time, a 3% threshold was set in the proportional system in the regions and a 2.5% threshold in Tbilisi. The 40% demand was set in the majoritarian system. The Georgian Parliament adopted relevant amendments to the Election Code on June 28, 2021. Most parties signed the agreement, and elected opposition MPs took up their parliamentary mandates which they had refused until then. However, the largest opposition party

United National Movement United National Movement (UNM; ka, ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the p ...

refused to join the agreement, which later led to Georgian Dream withdrawing from the agreement two months before the October 2021 local elections. According to the head of the Georgian Dream party

Irakli Kobakhidze Irakli Kobakhidze ( ka, ირაკლი კობახიძე; born 25 September 1978) is a Georgian politician who haa been the 16th Prime Minister of Georgia, prime minister of Georgia since 2024 and has been the Georgian Dream#Leadershi ...

, the agreement "failed to accomplish its goals" because of the UNM's refusal to join it.

Arrest of Mikheil Saakashvili

Former President of Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

, who left Georgia in 2013 and was condemned by the Tbilisi City Court to six years in prison ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'' for abuse of power, embezzlement, and his implication in the attempted murder of an opposition MP, announced his return to Georgia on 1 October 2021, on the eve of the local elections. Saakashvili went live on Facebook and called on his followers to march on the capital, Tbilisi. Some government officials initially denied Saakashvili's arrival and said that he was in Ukraine. However, later on the same day Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili held press briefing, where he announced that Saakashvili was arrested in Tbilisi. According to the investigation, Saakashvili entered the country secretly, hiding in a semi-trailer truck loaded with milk products. He illegally crossed the state border of Georgia, bypassing the customs control.

Electoral system

Local self-government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

is the right and ability of citizens of Georgia to solve, within the legislation of Georgia, local issues through local authorities elected by them. There are two types of self-governing units (municipalities): self-governing cities and self-governing communities. A self-governing city is a settlement of an urban category, while a self-governing community is an aggregation of several settlements with administrative boundaries and an administrative center. There are 5 self-governing cities and 59 self-governing communities. Self-governing cities are

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

Rustavi Rustavi ( ka, რუსთავი ) is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli and southeast of capital Tbilisi. It has a population of 127,154 (January 2024), making it the third most populous city in Georgia. Its eco ...

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian language, Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz language, Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia (country), Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the mkhare, region of ...

. The representative bodies (a representative council, in Georgian ''

Sakrebulo Local government in Georgia ( ka, ადგილობრივი თვითმმართველობა, tr) is administered at the level of the subdivisions of Georgia, which are known as the units of self-government or municipalities (� ...

'') and a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, the head of the executive bodies, are directly elected by the citizens of Georgia registered in a self-governing unit to a four-year term. Members of Sakrebulos of the self-governing communities and the self-governing cities are elected through the

majoritarian Majoritarianism is a political philosophy or ideology with an agenda asserting that a majority, whether based on a religion, language, social class, or other category of the population, is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and ...

and proportional electoral systems. The election date is appointed by the

President of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

60 days prior to the polls and countersigned by

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The Annex No. 1 to the сurrent Election Code regulates the compositions of Sakrebulos of self-governing communities and self-governing cities, except the Tbilisi Sakrebulo, which is composed of 50 members, out of which 10 members are elected in the territory of local single-seat majoritarian electoral districts, and 40 are elected through the proportional electoral system in the whole territory of Tbilisi municipality. Compositions of Sakrebulos of self-governing communities and self-governing cities (except for Tbilisi City) according to the Annex No. 1 to the Election Code:

2021 Tbilisi mayoral election

The 2021 Tbilisi mayoral election (Georgian: თბილისის მერის არჩევნები) was held on 2 and 30 October 2021 to elect the Mayor of Tbilisi in parallel to the Tbilisi City Sakrebulo elections. The main candidates for 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 has served as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he ...

, the incumbent

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 Tbilis ...

and former Minister of Energy from the ruling

party,

Nika Melia Nikanor "Nika" Melia ( ka, ნიკანორ „ნიკა“ მელია; born 21 December 1979) is a Georgian politician, former chairman of the United National Movement party and former member of Parliament of Georgia. He was a memb ...

, Member of Parliament from the

, and

Giorgi Gakharia Giorgi Gakharia ( ka, გიორგი გახარია; born 19 March 1975) is a Georgia (country), Georgian politician who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Georgia from 8 September 2019 until his resignation on 18 February 2021. E ...

, former

and

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from the recently established

For Georgia Gakharia For Georgia ( ka, გახარია საქართველოსთვის, tr) is a political party in Georgia founded by former Georgian Prime Minister from the Georgian Dream party Giorgi Gakharia. It is currently in oppos ...

party. In total, 16 candidates were nominated for the Tbilisi mayoral election.
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Opinion polls

Results

denotes a self-governing city.

References

{{Georgian elections

Local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

Local elections in Georgia (country)