Union of Citizens of Georgia

Union of Citizens of Georgia საქართველოს მოქალაქეთა კავშირი
General Secretary	Eduard Shevardnadze
Founded	21 November 1993
Dissolved	23 November 2003
Headquarters	Tbilisi
Ideology	Big tent Euro-Atlanticism Factions: Social democracy Liberalism Conservatism
Political position	Syncretic
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (observer)
International affiliation	Socialist International
Colours	Blue   Yellow
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

Union of Citizens of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს მოქალაქეთა კავშირი, romanized: sakartvelos mokalaketa k'avshiri) (UCG) (also known as the Citizens' Union of Georgia or Georgian Citizens' Union) was the ruling party of Georgia from 1993 to 2003. It was established by the president Eduard Shevardnadze, who had previously server as the Communist leader of the Georgian SSR from 1972 to 1985, and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of the Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia.

Shevardnadze led the party to victory in the 1995 and 1999 parliamentary elections, however the party disbanded soon after his removal from power in the aftermath of the Rose Revolution, which occurred following the 2003 parliamentary election which was widely seen as being rigged.

During UCG’s rule, the country suffered from severe corruption and political instability. The government is generally described as being "semi-authoritarian" tolerating pluralism and political competition as long as it did not substantially challenge the party’s grip on power. UCG is described as having distinct conservative and liberal factions, the latter of which advocated for reforms. In foreign policy UCG supported Georgia’s membership in the European Union and NATO.

History

Political context

The leader of UCG Eduard Shevardnadze.

Eduard Shevardnadze’s entry into independent Georgia’s politics starts with the removal of the president Zviad Gamsakhurdia through a military coup and the subsequent 1992 general election, which Shevardnadze won overwhelmingly as an independent candidate. The elections, which have been described as fairly democratic, saw the emergence of a fragmented multi-party parliament, however, it has also been criticized for bringing in a parliament that lacked real opposition. Despite this, the post-election situation in the country has been described as "verging on anarchy" with Georgia being labeled a failed state.

Government

The leader of the "young reformers" team Zurab Zhvania.

In 1993, Shevardnadze founded Union of Citizens of Georgia (UCG), which gained a majority in the parliament in a coalition with a group of independent MPs. Soon a team of "young reformers" headed by Zurab Zhvania started to gain influence within the party. In 1995, Zhvania was elected the speaker of the parliament with his wing additionally starting to dominate the apparatus of the party. Zhvania was viewed by some observers as the natural heir to Shevardnadze.

Soon Zhvania’s team was joined by an up-and-coming Western-educated young lawyer Mikheil Saakashvili. He was elected to the parliament in 1995 with him being soon appointed chairman of a key Parliamentary committee responsible for setting out reforms. Nino Burjanadze was another figure who joined the reformist group, being another young lawyer who was educated at an elite Russian university. In 1999, Georgia was the first country from the South Caucasus to be admitted to the Council of Europe. This move was seen as a victory not only for Shevardnadze but also for the group of "reformers".

The team of "young reformers" implemented many significant reforms modeled after Western legislation, including a new civil code, civil proceedings code, criminal proceedings code, tax code, and general administrative code. The group also pushed for merit-based reforms in the judiciary with Soviet-era judges being widely replaced by ones appointed through a meritocratic system. Another important step in the country’s democratization was the tolerance of independent and critical media and the establishment of a non-governmental sector (NGOs). The reforms have been described as bringing "Georgia closer to European standards", nevertheless, the country’s democratic nature was still subject to frequent criticism.

During UCG's rule Adjara was ruled by Aslan Abashidze’s Democratic Union for Revival party with him being accused of creating a "personal dictatorship". While the relations in the mid-90s were good between Abashidze and the central Georgian authorities, by the late 90s they worsened with Abashidze leading the largest opposition bloc in the 1999 parliamentary election.

Eduard Shevardnadze meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2000.

Another crisis took shape in 1999 with the government effectively losing control of Pankisi region as a result of a spillover of the war in Chechnya. The Chechen refugees fleeing the war took shelter in the region with some being anti-Russian insurgents. Russian authorities subsequently accused the Georgian state of harboring terrorists. The area quickly descended into a state of lawlessness, with drug and arms trafficking as well as kidnappings for ransom being a frequent occurrence. This in 2002 led the United States to launch Georgia Train and Equip program with the goal of training the Georgian Military by US Special Forces soldiers.

Rose Revolution

A rift was also growing between "the reformers" and the establishment factions in UCG. The division was intensified following the 2000 presidential election. In 2000, several MPs defected from the party establishing New Rights Party. The then justice minister Saakashvili also left UCG and established the opposition National Movement party. Zhvania and Burjanadze subsequently split in 2002 and created the United Democrats party.

By the late 90s, the government’s popularity drastically decreased being attributed to its inability to exert territorial control over the country, weak economic growth, and lack of development of public infrastructure. The 2002 local elections marked a turning point for UCG where it achieved a crushing defeat getting less than 2% in Tbilisi City Assembly. National Movement led by Saakashvili got a quarter of the votes in the election with him becoming the chairman of the assembly.

Despite the elections held under UCG's rule being generally viewed as fraudulent, the scale of the fraud was described as not being enough to change the outcome of an election. This changed in 2003 parliamentary election which was widely viewed as rigged. Parallel voting tabulations had shown an overwhelming opposition victory despite the official results claiming otherwise. The pro-government parties were united in the "For a New Georgia" bloc, which cooperated with Democratic Union for Revival.

The leader of the Rose Revolution Mikheil Saakashvili in 2004.

National Movement and Burjanadze-Democrats organized mass rallies in protest of the official results demanding the government either recognize the opposition's victory or resign. Some other significant opposition forces such as Labour Party and New Rights Party chose to abstain from the protests. The opposition and the government faced off on the first session the new parliament forcing MPs and Shevardnadze, who was delivering a speech, to leave the room. The following day, Shevardnadze made the decision to resign as president making Burjanadze, the speaker of the parliament, the new interim president. Days later, the Georgian Supreme Court declared the results invalid. On 23 November 2003, UCG was dissolved. This event was later known as the Rose Revolution.

Post-revolution

Saakashvili emerged as the clear leader from the protests, with him winning an overwhelming victory in the snap 2004 presidential election, where he ran virtually uncontested. National Movement and United Democrats later merged with them forming United National Movement. The party went on to win 66.24% in the 2004 parliamentary election.

Ideology

Union of Citizens of Georgia was a big tent or a catch-all party. The party’s rule has been labeled as competitive authoritarianism and semi-authoritarian. The government has been described as having distinct conservative and liberal factions latter of which advocated for reforms. In foreign policy UCG supported European integration and Atlanticism.

The government has been described to have created a hybrid regime with weak state institutions and consistent voter fraud. State capture has also been attributed to the party. Despite the undemocratic nature of the government it has been attributed to bringing a "spirit of pluralism into [the] Georgian society". Analysts have noted that "certain space for civic and political freedoms [existed] but few conditions for genuine political competition and participation" were in place. The UCG government has been described as being dominated by a "clientelistic networks or clans" that served the ruling elite. Georgia’s perception during their rule was also as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Leadership

Party chairs

• Eduard Shevardnadze (1993–2001)
• Avtandil Jorbenadze (2002-2003)

Electoral performance

Parliamentary

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Status
1995	Zurab Zhvania	504,586	25.19	108 / 235	new	1st	Government
1999	Zurab Zhvania	890,915	44.48	131 / 235	23	1st	Government
2003	Eduard Shevardnadze	407,045	22.10	57 / 225	74	1st	Government

Presidential

Election year	Candidate	Results
		# of the overall vote	% of the overall vote
1995	Eduard Shevardnadze	1,589,909	77.02 (#1)
2000	Eduard Shevardnadze	1,870,311	82.00 (#1)

Presidents of Georgia from Union of Citizens of Georgia

Name	From	To
Eduard Shevardnadze	26 November 1995	23 November 2003