Georgia - December 2024

Georgia’s parliament inaugurated Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s new president on 29 December in a process met by public protests and condemned as illegitimate by the political opposition, the outgoing president Salome Zourabichivili, and much of Georgian civil society. The inauguration marks a new phase in Georgian politics, where the opposition and the government no longer recognize each other’s political or legal legitimacy. Kavelashvili was elected in a parliamentary session boycotted by opposition MPs. Critics hold that the October 2024 election was irreparably marred by irregularities and signs of tampering by the victorious Georgian Dream and call for a rerun. The final report from the OSCE election monitoring mission released on 27 December echoed these concerns, finding “reports of intimidation, coercion, inducement, and pressure on voters,” raising concerns about “the ability of some voters to freely form their opinions and cast their votes without fear of retribution.”

Sources: OC Media (1), British Broadcasting Corporation, OC Media (2), International IDEA, OSCE

A new Public Service Law in effect on 30 December was criticized by civil servants and civil society organizations for giving the government excess influence over the staffing of nominally independent state agencies. Under the new law, upper and middle management civil servants will be classified as administrative staff, not civil servants, and can be hired and fired by the government at will. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association criticized the law for increasing the risk of the politicization of the civil service, and dozens of civil servants reported being dismissed without cause or in retaliation for previous criticism of government policies on 31 December and in early January 2025. Public competition will also no longer be required for these posts and candidates will not have to meet previously legislated competency requirements. All civil servants will be evaluated biannually instead of annually and two consecutive unsatisfactory evaluations will result in dismissal.

Sources: Civil.ge (1), Publika, Civil.ge (2), OC Media