I talk about the government system of Georgia from executive to legislative and how elections work in the country.

1. Post author By Charlie October 8, 2020
The Government System of Georgia
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-georgia/
Goergia is a country located in the Caucasus region and it is bordered with Russia,
Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan and also has a coast along the Black Sea, it has
disputed territory which is South Ossetia and Abkhazia who have declared independent
republics with the backing of Russia but is widely unrecognized by the wider
international community with most still viewing it as part of Georgia. The country’s
capital city is Tbilisi, located near to the Azerbaijan border.
During the earliest known times what is today Georgia was a number of independent
Georgian Kingdoms, which eventually adopted Christianity in the 4th Century, this
played a large part in uniting the Georgian Kingdoms as a single Kingdom which
reached its Golden Age in the 12th and early 13th Century before going into decline and
breakup due to influence of the Mongols, Ottoman Empire and various dynasties of
Iran.
In the later 18th Century the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti made an alliance with
the Russian Empire leading to the Kingdom being annexed by them in 1801 and the
Georgian Kingdom of Imereti also being annexed in 1810, treaties with Iran and the
Ottomans lead to acceptance of Russian rule over the Georgians and through the rest of
the 19th Century the remaining Georgian territories were absorbed into the Russian
Empire.
The Russian Revolution and Civil War led to Georgia briefly joining the Transcaucasian
Federation and then a short-lived independent republic called the Democratic Republic
of Georgia in 1918, but this ended in 1921 after the Soviets invaded the country and set
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2. up a new government leading to Georgia joining a new Transcaucasian Federation run
by the Soviets, Georgia then became one of the founding Republics of the Soviet Union.
Protests against de-Stalinization reforms in 1956 lead to the deaths of almost 100
students and in the 1980s a movement for independence begun to gather pace and was
achieved in April 1991 due to the Soviet Union being close to collapse. During this time
Georgia went through its own crisis due to a number of civil conflicts related to ethnic
tensions, successionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and a violent military coup
against the first democratically elected government. The country also went through an
economic crisis.
The Rose Revolution in 2003 led to the peaceful changing of power in the country after
disputed election results and a transition to closer ties with the West with aims at NATO
and European integration, this lead to a souring of relations with Russia and
subsequently the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 which lead to Russia enabling Abkhazia
and South Ossetia to declare independent republics, which is widely unrecognized by
the West who see them as Georgian territory occupied by Russia. Georgia recognizes
Abkhazia as an autonomous republic which is a part of Georgia while it does not
recognize South Ossetia as having any special status.
Georgia has been considering whether to reinstate a monarchy, in this sense it would be
a constitutional monarchy alongside an elected government with a Prime Minister and
would likely abolish the position of President.
Government Type
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3. Coat of Arms of Georgia.
Georgia is a semi-presidential republic and a parliamentary representative democratic
republic with a President who is the ceremonial Head of State and the Prime Minister
who is the Head of Government. The legislative government is made up of a unicameral
parliament. Multiple parties are allowed.
Although the parliament is currently a single chamber, there are plans to create a 2nd
higher chamber called the Senate after appropriate conditions are met, it could be that
until the issue with South Ossetia and Abkhazia is resolved, there will not be a Senate.
The constitution says that the Senate shall consist of members elected from the
Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Autonomous Republic of Ajara, and other
territorial units of Georgia and also five further members appointed by the President.
The Executive Government
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4. Giorgi Gakharia, current Prime Minister of Georgia. Photo by Davit Teteloshvili from
Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.
The President is the country’s head of state representing the country abroad but the
position is mostly ceremonial with limited powers. Members of parliament can be
removed due to a judgement of conviction that comes into force against them; or a court
recognizes as incapable or missing; or if the legislator holds a position or engages in
activity incompatible with the status of legislator; if the legislator loses Georgian
citizenship; or if the legislator fails to participate in the work of parliament for at least a
period of four months without a good reason being given, removal of legislators can be
appealed at the country’s Supreme Court.
Powers and Duties
It is the duty of the President to represent Georgia in its foreign relations and the
President is the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces. The President, with
agreement from the Government, concludes and negotiates treaties and international
agreements, can appoint and dismiss ambassadors and other diplomatic
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5. representatives on recommendation of the Government and also accredit ambassadors
and other diplomatic representatives of foreign states and
international organisations in agreement with the Government.
The President can conclude a constitutional agreement with the Apostolic
Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Goergia on behalf of the State of Goergia.
The President conducts the procedure of appointing the Prime Minister after
parliamentary elections. The President assigns an acting Government to perform official
duties until a new Government is sworn in.
The President, in accordance with the Constitution, nominates before Parliament and
appoints, releases, and dismisses officials. The President also appoints a member of the
High Council of Justice as determined by law. The President participates in the
appointment of a Chairperson and members of the Central Election Commission under
the procedure and determination of organic law. The President also nominates
candidates to be members of the National Regulatory Authorities to Parliament in
agreement with the Government.
The President nominates a Chairperson of the Government of the Autonomous
Republic of Ajara for approval of the Supreme Council of Ajara after its elections have
taken place, the nomination is made after consulting with political entities in the
Council and with prior consent given by the Government of Georgia.
On recommendation of the Government and consent of Parliament, the President has
the right to suspend the activity of self-government bodies or other representative
institutions off territorial units or dismiss them if their activities jeopardize the
sovereignty, territorial integrity of the country, or the exercise of constitutional powers
by state bodies.
The President can make decisions on issuing citizenship or asylum.
The President can grant pardons to convicts.
The President appoints members of the National Security Council, and with agreement
of the Government can appoint and dismiss the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed
Forces of Georgia and other commanders.
The President can dissolve parliament under specific circumstances as given by the
constitution. The President cannot dissolve parliament within 6-months after a
parliamentary election unless parliament fails to agree on the appointment of a Prime
Minister; cannot dissolve parliament while raising the question of or pursuing
impeachment of the President; cannot dissolve parliament during a state of emergency
or martial law; and cannot dissolve parliament within the last 6-months of the
President’s tenure unless again there is a situation where parliament cannot agree on a
Prime Minister.
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6. At the request of the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia or by at least one-fourth
of legislators or by recommendation of the Government the President shall convene a
special session of Parliament on a specific agenda.
The President promulgates legislation that has been passed by the Parliament of
Georgia, the President must promulgate it within 10-days of receiving it or return it to
the parliament for a 2 opinion with comments that justify why. The members of
parliament can vote to accept the changes suggested by the President or bypass them
and pass the same legislation again via a special majority where which if it passes again
unchanged the President must promulgate it. If the President fails to promulgate a
passed piece of legislation within the given timeframe then the Chairperson of the
Parliament of Goergia will do it instead.
The President appoints a within 30-days referendum on an issue either at the request of
the Parliament of Georgia, the Government or at least 200,000 voters.
The President appoints three members of the Constitutional Court, another three are
elected by an absolute majority vote by the Parliament of Georgia and the last three
members are appointed by the Supreme Court, the Chairperson of the Constitutional
Court is elected among themselves. The members serve 10-year terms.
Judges and Chairperson of the Supreme Court are elected by the Parliament of Georgia
on recommendation of the President.
Members of the Council of the National Bank are suggested by the President and elected
by the Parliament of Georgia.
Most of the President’s powers require counter-signature by the Prime Minister to have
effect, unless otherwise stated in the Constitution.
Presidential Absence
If the President is unable to discharge their duties or has been terminated from office
then the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia will fill in as Acting President, if they
are unable to do so then the Prime Minister will fill in as Acting President, with the First
Vice-Prime Minister filling in as Prime Minister. They will hold the post until the
President can discharge duties again or until the remainder of the presidential term
ends.
Acting Presidents are limited on using certain powers.
State of Emergency and Martial Law
The President has the ability to declare a state of emergency or martial law under
extraordinary and/or serious circumstances that will restrict certain rights and
freedoms for a set period of time, such temporary changes on rights include suspension
of certain court rights, communication privacy, right to enter private property and right
to own and inherit property, freedom of movement, rights to creative work and against
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7. censorship of creative works, freedom of speech and mass media, right to public
assembly, labour rights, right to strike and freedom of information and information
privacy.
Martial Law and States of Emergency require parliamentary approval and parliament
decides on any extension of Martial Law or States of Emergency. Parliament cannot be
dissolved during this time and elections are suspended.
During these times the President has the power to issue decrees with the force of law
that will last until the end of the Martial Law or State of Emergency period. Such
decrees are reviewed by parliament.
Presidential Removal
Certain cases allow the removal of the President from office which is triggered by the
Parliament of Georgia. At least one-third of the total number of legislators will raise the
question for impeachment of the President, the issue if accepted is referred to the
Constitutional Court of Goergia for a decision, the Courts conclusion is then submitted
to Parliament and if it confirms that the President has committed certain crimes or
violated the constitution the parliament will vote on whether to remove from office
within 15-days.
A vote of two-thirds is required to remove the President from office.
Impeachment procedure cannot be launched during a state of emergency, martial law
or time of war.
The Government and Prime Minister
The Government is led by the Prime Minister as Head of Government. It is the job of the
government to implement internal and foreign policy of the country. The Government
and Prime Minister are accountable to the Parliament of Georgia and must hold their
confidence to remain in power.
The Government also includes various appointed Ministers to run various aspects and
departments of the Government and implement policy that is under their competence.
The Prime Minister can also assign a member of Government as First Vice-Prime
Minister and one or more Government members as Vice Prime Minister/s.
The Government adopts ordinances and decrees on basis and fulfillment of the
Constitution and other legislative acts. These ordinances and decrees are signed by the
Prime Minister to have effect.
The President can request that certain matters be discussed at a Government meeting
and can participate in the discussion. The Secretary and other members of the National
Security Council can also attend the discussion.
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8. It is the job of the Prime Minister to determine the directions of Government
activity, organise such activity, and also coordinate and control the activity of
Government members.
If requested, the Prime Minister provides a report to the Parliament of Georgia on
progress on the Government Programme.
The Prime Minister appoints and can remove members of Government. The term of
Government members ends with the term of Government/the Prime Minister and if the
Prime Minister resigns the term of office of the Government members also ends with
it.
The Legislative Government
Parliament of Georgia meeting place. Photo by Diego Delsodelso.photo. CC-BY-SA license.
The Parliament of Georgia, which is currently a unicameral chamber, makes up the
legislative government. The parliament currently has 150 seats which are elected by the
people.
It is the main job of the parliament to have legislation introduced to it and for such
legislation to be debated and possibly amended and then either rejected or passed by a
majority of votes, except in the cases where a special increased majority is required,
such as for organic legislation or constitutional amendment. It is also the job of
parliament to review and pass the state budget and keep the Government and Prime
Minister in check and has powers to remove members of Government and or even the
entire Government and Prime Minister.
Legislation passed by Parliament is sent to the President for promulgation.
Legislation can be introduced by the Government, members of parliament,
parliamentary factions, parliamentary committees, and supreme representative bodies
of the autonomous republics of Abkhazia and Ajara or by at least 30,000 voters.
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9. The parliament also votes to ratify, denounce or annul treaties or international
agreements.
Legislators have rights to pose questions to bodies accountable to Parliament and pose
questions and get answers from the Government as well as from state institutions and
the heads of executive bodies of territorial units at any level.
An absolute majority of legislators can bring the Prime Minister’s attention to the
official responsiblilties of specific members of the Government.
Parliament makes decisions on issues of state of emergency, martial law and on a state
of war or peace.
The members of the parliament elect a chairperson and two deputy chairpersons, one of
the deputies is chosen by legislators from Abkhazia while the other is chosen by
legislators from Ajara, due to the Abkhazia situation I am unsure of the current
procedure. The Chairperson presides over meetings of parliament and regulates debate
and makes sure chamber by-laws are followed, the Chairperson also signs acts of
parliament.
At least one-thirds of the number of total legislators can bring forth the question of
impeachment and removal of the Chairperson of the Supreme Court or members of
Government, auditor general of the state audit service and members of the council of
the national bank if they violated the Constitution or committed and offence, the
Constitutional Court will submit its conclusion and if it deems guilt then there is again a
vote in parliament to remove the said official, requiring an absolute majority vote.
Like pretty much all parliaments, committees are formed for the functioning of the
parliament such as for preparation of legislative issues, decision implementation, and
for exercise of control of entities under the competence of the parliament and
Government. The committees are proportional as best as possible to the composition of
the current parliament.
Investigative and other special interim commissions can be set up in parliament for the
cases allowed by the Constitution and rules of parliament. At least one-fifth of
legislators can call for an investigative or special commission. As always investigative
commissions have special powers for compulsory attendance for oral information and
request of physical information.
There is a Parliamentary Bureau made up of the Chairperson, deputy chairpersons and
the chairpersons of parliamentary committees and factions, this Bureau is used for
the organisation of parliamentary work.
Parliamentary factions are groups of established legislators who together have special
powers under parliamentary rules and increased influence, any legislator can join a
faction and factions require at least 6 legislators to be formed.
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10. The Electoral System
Photo in Public Domain.
Presidential elections happen every 5-years and uses a two-round absolute majority
system where a candidate requires an absolute majority of votes to win outright in the
first round of voting otherwise there is a 2 round held between the top two candidates
which is won by simple majority. One person can serve a maximum of two consecutive
terms.
NOTE: The above system is soon to be replaced with an Electoral College system, this is
said to be happening by 2024.
To be nominated as a candidate for President one must be a Georgian citizen who is
eligible to vote and who is at least 35-years-old and has lived in Georgia for at least 5-
years and has lived there for three-years prior to the election.
Parliamentary elections happen every 4-years to elect the 150 members of the
Parliament of Georgia. 77 of the members are elected by a system of proportional
representation from multi-seat constituencies which is where the number of seats
obtained matches the percentage of the vote as closely as possible, just as long as the
party in question reaches a required quota of the vote. The remaining 73 members are
elected from single-seat constituencies using a first-past-the-post system. It is planned
for all members to eventually be elected from multi-seat constituencies using a
proportional representation system.
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11. To be nominated as a candidate for the parliament one must be a Georgian citizen who
is at least 21-years-old.
The largest party or coalition after parliamentary elections determines where the Prime
Minister will be appointed from by the President.
The procedure to appoint the Prime Minister is as follows: the President nominates the
Prime Minister from the best performing party/coalition on who the President believes
will have the confidence of the Parliament of Georgia. The nominated Prime Minister
will then nominate Ministers for Government and propose the composition of
Government and Programme of Government to the Parliament of Georgia for a vote of
confidence. Confidence is gained by a majority of the full list of legislators.
If confidence is not gained then there will be a vote on an initial compsotion or new
composition of Government within 30-days. If within the timeframe a Prime Minister is
not proposed or a new Government composition has not gained confidence then the
President will nominate a candidate for Prime Minister that is proposed by at least two-
fifths of the full list of legislators.
The procedure then repeats with the composition of Government proposed trying to get
confidence, if confidence still fails to be attained in the timeframe then the President
will dissolve parliament and call fresh parliamentary election.
The above procedure also takes place if the Government ceases to have authority. The
confidence vote on composition also takes place again if Government members are
renewed by one-third but not less than 5.
To vote one must be a citizen of Georgia who is at least 18-years-old. The constitution
says that citizens can be found legally incapable by a court or who have been deprived
of their liberty by a court decision cannot vote.
Sources
The source for this post comes from Georgia’s 1995 constitution with amendments
through to 2013 and so should be as up to date as possible but keep in mind I may have
misinterpreted some things and missed out other things and the constitution can also
be amended and so this post may become outdated and so it is important to do cross-
research if using this in a serious capacity.
The constitution can be amended via a draft law that is supported by at least an absolute
majority of the members of the Parliament of Georgia or by petition of at least 200,000
voters. Passage for amendment requires support of at least three-fourths of the
members of the Parliament of Georgia in two successive sessions that are three-months
apart and then signed and promulgated by the President.
Next up will be the government system of Germany!
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