GEORGIA
Parliamentary Chamber: Sakartvelos Parlamenti

ELECTIONS HELD IN 1995

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Chamber:
  Sakartvelos Parlamenti


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  5 November 1995
19 November 1995


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for all the seats of the new Parliament provided for in the Constitution of August 1995. General elections had previously been held in October 1992.


Background and outcome of elections:

  The 1995 general elections were the second since independence was attained in 1991, with legislative and presidential polling scheduled concurrently. In August 1995, a new Electoral Law and Constitution which, inter alia, provided for a presidency had been adopted.

Altogether five candidates challenged outgoing Head of State (as Chairman of Parliament) Eduard Shevardnadze of the Citizens' Union of Georgia, the leading opponent being Mr. Dzhumber Patiashvili, the former first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. Topping the opposition parties in the parliamentary races were two centre-right, pro-reform groups: the National Democratic Party and the All-Georgian Union of Revival. Altogether some 3000 candidates and more than 50 parties or alliances vied for the 235 seats at stake.

During the campaign, Mr. Shevardnadze - regarded by many as the only one able to tackle Georgia's problems - advocated continued economic reform and called for reunification of the country as well as suppression of the private armies which had cropped up since independence. Other prominent issues related to the conflict with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as ramifications of often-tense relations with the Russian Federation.

Polling day was generally peaceful, and international observers detected no major irregularities. According to results released by the Central Electoral Commission, the Citizens' Union swept to victory in the legislative contests, thus riding the coattails of Chairman Shevardnadze, himself overwhelmingly elected President with nearly 75% of the popular vote and widely regarded as the only one able to tackle Georgia's problems. Only three parties achieved the 5% threshold needed for parliamentary representation according to the proportional system. Of the 85 majority seats, 10 were not filled in the secessionist regions where polling was indefinitely suspended and runoffs for 36 others were required on 19 November.

On 25 November, the newly elected legislature held its first session and, the next day, President Shevardnadze - who had narrowly escaped an assassination attempt three months earlier - was sworn in for a five-year term. Having proclaimed that "democracy and reforms have triumphed in Georgia", he appointed the new Cabinet on 11 December. It is headed by the Minister of State, Mr. Nikoloz Lekishvili.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (5 November 1995): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 3,121,075
Voters 2,127,946 (68.18%)

Round no 1: Distribution of votes  
Political Group %
Citizens’ Union 23.71
National Democratic Party 7.95
All-Georgian Union of Revival 6.84
Progress bloc -
Socialist Party of Georgia 3.79
Tanadgoma (Solidarity) bloc -
Union of Georgian Traditionalists 4.22
Reformers Union of Georgia-National Concord 2.89
United Republican Party -
State Justice Union -
Lemi Organisation -
Abkhazian Deputies -
Independents -

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total Proportional Majority
Citizens’ Union 107 90 17
National Democratic Party 34 31 3
All-Georgian Union of Revival 31 25 6
Progress bloc 4 0 4
Socialist Party of Georgia 4 0 4
Tanadgoma (Solidarity) bloc 3 0 3
Union of Georgian Traditionalists 2 0 2
Reformers Union of Georgia-National Concord 2 0 2
United Republican Party 1 0 1
State Justice Union 1 0 1
Lemi Organisation 1 0 1
Abkhazian Deputies 12 0 12
Independents 29 0 29

Comments:
  Plus 4 vacancies

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 215
Women: 16


Distribution of seats according to profession:

 
Engineers 58
Economists 39
Teachers 21
Physicists 13
Physicians 12
Lawyers 11
Politicians 11
Historians 10
Philologists 9
Producers 4
Mathematicians 4
Biologists 4
Writers 3
Agronomists 3
Political scientists 2
Journalists 2
Philosophers 2
Zoo engineers 2
Others 21


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Copyright © 1995 Inter-Parliamentary Union