Strong Georgia

Strong Georgia ძლიერი საქართველო
Abbreviation	SG
Leaders	Mamuka Khazaradze Anna Dolidze Aleko Elisashvili Levan Tsutskiridze David Gamkrelidze
Founded	17 July 2024
Headquarters	Tbilisi, Georgia
Ideology	Big tent Pro-Europeanism Factions: Liberalism Social democracy
Political position	Centre to centre-left
Constituent parties	Lelo For the People Citizens Freedom Square
Colors	Yellow   Blue
Slogan	ლელო, ხალხისთვის, თავისუფლებისთვის! ('Lelo, For the People, For Freedom!')
Seats in Parliament	4 / 150
Municipal Councilors	32 / 2,068
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

Strong Georgia (Georgian: ძლიერი საქართველო, romanized: dzlieri sakartvelo) is an informal and big tent politicial coalition of pro-Western political parties in Georgia. The coalition includes Lelo, For the People, Freedom Square, and Citizens. It is running in the 2024 parliamentary election. Since formal electoral blocs are banned the coalition is running on Lelos's list with its electoral number being 9.

History

On July 17, three opposition groups — Lelo for Georgia, Ana Dolidze’s For the People, and the newly launched Freedom Square party — announced their alliance ahead of the October Parliamentary elections. Mamuka Khazaradze of Lelo for Georgia described the upcoming election on October 26 as a watershed moment, stating that the choice is between remaining under "the yoke of the occupier" or entering "the free world" with dignity, united.

Anna Dolidze acknowledged differing opinions within the alliance but highlighted that diversity reflects the strength of Georgia's traditions, comparing it to Georgian polyphonic singing. Levan Tsutskiridze of the Freedom Square movement emphasized that their unity responds to a long-standing demand from the Georgian electorate, aiming to end cynicism and lies in politics, and transition from a single-party system to a multi-party democracy.

The parties in the coalition are signatories to the Georgian Charter initiated by the president Salome Zourabichvili with the aim of uniting the pro-Western opposition parties and setting out goals for a possible future government.

At a special briefing on 16 September 2024, Salome Zourabichvili emphasized the need for a “positive, third center” to provide opposition-leaning and undecided voters with a clearer choice and announced the forthcoming coalition of two major opposition forces: Strong Georgia and ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia.

She expressed her support for their readiness to unite and invited them to the Orbeliani Palace on September 17 to complete the final steps of the negotiations. Zourabichvili concluded by asserting, “I am confident that this is what society expects from you.”

The following day, after a meeting at the presidential administration, Khazaradze noted that while some technical issues remain, both he and Gakharia are united in their goal to remove the ruling Georgian Dream party from power. He underscored the urgency of choosing between a path aligned with Russia or a future integrated with Europe. Gakharia mentioned that Khazaradze had requested additional time to clarify his stance, indicating that negotiations were still ongoing. Despite previous disagreements, both leaders now agree on the need for Western investment in its development. Gakharia reaffirmed his party's commitment to prioritizing Georgia's democratic path. He expressed gratitude to President Salome Zourabichvili for facilitating the dialogue and highlighted the upcoming elections as crucial in preventing any single party from dominating Georgia's political landscape.

Ideology

Coalition for Change is described as being an alliance of pro-Western parties.

The leader of the coalition Mamuka Khazaradze has expressed support for the ruling Georgian Dream party's proposal to make the Georgian Orthodox Church a state religion in Georgia. Khazaradze stated that "Georgia does not and will not exist without the Georgian Orthodox Church".

On 5 September 2024, the Strong Georgia coalition presented its election plan called "Ilia's way" to the public in Saguramo, in the vicinity of the Ilia Chavchavadze's statue. The coalition stated that it would introduce visa regime for Russian citizens in Georgia, restrict direct flights with Russia, and ban selling agricultural land to Russians. It promised to push for Anaklia deepwater port construction and to create "200 thousand new jobs", although it did not specify what measures would be taken for this goal. It promised to introduce a heavy gambling tax and use the increased budget funds to raise pensions. Ana Dolidze, social democratic member of coalition from For the People party, presented plan to increase average income and minimum wage. She announced that these goals would be achieved in cooperation with the "business, small and medium businesses". Levan Tsutskiridze, a leader of Freedom Square party, focused on education reform. The coalition promised greater European Integration, vowing to establish special ministry to push for Georgia's accession to the EU, increase trade with the EU, and create greater opportunities for the youth to move to the European countries through student exchange programs.