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Georgian Labour Party

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Georgian Labour Party
საქართველოს ლეიბორისტული პარტია
ChairmanShalva Natelashvili
Secretary-GeneralGiorgi Gugava
FoundedAugust 1995
HeadquartersI. Javakhishvili 88, Tbilisi
Youth wingLabour Youth
Women's wingLabourist Women in Georgia
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left[1][2][6]
National affiliationUnited National Council (2007–2008)
Colors  Red
Seats in Parliament
0 / 150
Municipal Councilors
3 / 2,043
Website
www.labour.ge

The Georgian Labour Party (Georgian: საქართველოს ლეიბორისტული პარტია, romanized: sakartvelos leiborist'uli p'art'ia, SLP) is a political party in Georgia that was founded in 1995 by Shalva Natelashvili.

History

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Background

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The party was established in 1995 by Shalva Natelashvili, a deputy of the Parliament of Georgia and a former member of the National Democratic Party. The party was initially known as "National Rule of Law Union" and operated only in the small mountainous locality where Natelashvili hails from. In 1995, Natelashvili was elected to the parliament from this Dusheti constituency. Later in the same year, Natelashvili renamed the party into the Labor Party of Georgia.[7]

Initial successes

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The party became the "strongest force on the left of the political spectrum" and performed strongly in the 1998 local elections.[7] It has been described as having occupied "the protest-vote niche" in mid- and late- 1990s.[8] In 1998, the GLP received 9% of the votes nationwide and finished on 3rd place behind the ruling Union of Citizens and the Union for Revival. In capital Tbilisi, the GLP received 18%, ending up on second place.[9] Despite this, in the 1999 Georgian parliamentary election, the party fell short of the electoral threshold to receive the seats in the parliament through the proportional representation.[10] The party blamed the authorities for rigging the elections.[11] Later the Labor Party went on to win the 2002 Georgian local elections with the United National Movement and the New Rights Party.[12] In Tbilisi, the GLP finished on first place, winning 25% of the vote.[13]

Former logo

Decline

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Despite these successes, the Labor Party has been described as having "extremely weak organizational structure" and lacking notable figures, with only Natelashvili being a recognizable face of the party. Moreover, it began to face competition for the protest vote by other new parties, such as the United National Movement.[7] Additionally, Natelashvili's unexplained decision in 2002 to give up the post of the chairman of the Tbilisi City Assembly to Mikheil Saakashvili of the UNM has been described as damaging the party's potential.[14]

When the alleged electoral fraud during the 2003 Georgian parliamentary election resulted in the mass protests, the Labor Party did not join them and condemned its leaders from the UNM and Burjanadze-Democrats parties.[7] After the protests developed into the Rose Revolution resulting in the successful removal of then-president Eduard Shevardnadze from power, the Labor Party suffered a blow to its popularity and it lost dozens of activists.[15] The party's growth in popularity has generally been described as having occurred prior to the Rose Revolution.[16]

Political platform

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The Labor Party has been described as social democratic and left-wing populist.[1][3][17] In 1990s and early 2000s, the party built its campaigns on representing the "ordinary voter". It heavily drew on the protest vote and emphasized the social justice in its rhetoric.[18] Its electoral programme from this period prioritized fighting "wild capitalism", "dictatorship of transnational companies", and "oligarchic and clan control over the economy". Instead, the party supported state control over the economy and the state monopoly over the oil industry. It particularly emphasized the state involvement in mining. The party campaigned for abolishing the land tax for peasants and farmers. In foreign policy, the party supported Georgia to be a neutral country.[5][19] The party promised free healthcare, education and social services, as well as nationalization of strategically important facilities, calling for reversing their privatization of 1990s. In its 2004 election programme it also supported bicameralism and the removal of immunity from the MPs, as well as reducing the presidential powers. To stimulate the demographic growth, the party argued for establishing the "family's survival fund" to assist young families. It called for the membership into the European Union and NATO, as well as visa free regime both with Russia and the European Union, with Natelashvili expressing support for "many-sided foreign policy" and having "partnership relations" with Russia.[20][21] By 2010, however, the Labor Party has been described as being "fairly ambivalent on the issue of Russian/Western orientation" and it again proposed military neutrality after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, presenting it as a genuine independence from both Moscow and Washington.[16][22][23] Later the Labor Party again shifted to Euro-Atlanticism.[24]

Electoral performance

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Parliamentary

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Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
1999 Shalva Natelashvili 140,595 7.02
2 / 235
 Increase 2 Steady 4th Opposition
2003 Shalva Natelashvili 229,900 12.04
20 / 235
 Increase 18 Steady 4th Opposition
2004 Shalva Natelashvili 89,981 6.01
4 / 150
 Decrease 16 Steady 4th Opposition
2008 Shalva Natelashvili 132,092 7.44
6 / 150
 Increase 2 Steady 4th Opposition
2012 Shalva Natelashvili 26,759 1.24
0 / 150
 Decrease 6 Steady 4th Extra-parliamentary
2016 Shalva Natelashvili 55,208 3.14
0 / 150
 Steady 0 Decrease 7th Extra-parliamentary
2020 Shalva Natelashvili 19,314 1.00
1 / 150
 Increase 1 Decrease 9th Opposition
2024 Shalva Natelashvili 15,103 0.73
0 / 150
 Decrease 1 Increase 8th Extra-parliamentary

Presidential

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Election year Candidate Results
# of overall votes % of overall vote
2008 Shalva Natelashvili 128,589 6.49 (#4)
2013 Shalva Natelashvili 46,958 2.88 (#4)
2018 Shalva Natelashvili 59,651 3.74 (#4)

Local election

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Election Votes % Seats +/–
2002 — —
152 / 4,801
 —
2014[25] 48,862 3.45 — —
2017[26] 49,130 3.27
17 / 2,043
2021[27] 24,329 1.38
3 / 2,068
 Decrease 14

2002 Tbilisi Sakrebulo election

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Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
71,145 25.5
15 / 49
 Increase 3 1st Government

References

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  1. ^ a b c Nodia, Ghia; Pinto Scholtbach, Álvaro (2006), The Political Landscape of Georgia: Political Parties: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects, Eburon, p. 123
  2. ^ a b c d "Georgia - 3 Political Parties". European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity.
  3. ^ a b Silagadze, Givi (February 2020). Who is (not) populist in Georgia? Making sense of the buzzword (PDF). Tbilisi, Georgia: Georgian Institute of Politics. p. 6.
  4. ^ "Parties, Parliaments and Polling Averages: Georgia". Europe Elects.
  5. ^ a b Valerian Dolidze (2005). "Political parties and party development in Georgia" (PDF). Central Asia and the Caucasus. p. 53.
  6. ^ "Georgia's Political Landscape". Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. 18 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Jaba Devdariani. "Georgia: Rise and Fall of the Façade Democracy" (PDF). p. 110.
  8. ^ Jaba Devdariani. "Georgia: Rise and Fall of the Façade Democracy" (PDF). p. 94.
  9. ^ Irakli Iremadze (2020). Electoral History of Georgia: 1990-2018 (PDF). Central Election Commission of Georgia. p. 111.
  10. ^ Jaba Devdariani. "Georgia: Rise and Fall of the Façade Democracy" (PDF). p. 100.
  11. ^ "Georgia Parliamentary Elections: 31 October & 14 November 1999 - Final Report" (PDF). OSCE. 7 February 2000.
  12. ^ Jaba Devdariani. "Georgia: Rise and Fall of the Façade Democracy" (PDF). p. 102.
  13. ^ Irakli Iremadze (2020). Electoral History of Georgia: 1990-2018 (PDF). Central Election Commission of Georgia. p. 139.
  14. ^ "ლეიბორისტული პარტიის წარუმატებლობის მიზეზი". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2 April 2004.
  15. ^ "Election Platform of the Labor Party". Civil Georgia.
  16. ^ a b Marta Foresti; George Welton; David Jijelava. "Review of international assistance to political party and party system development" (PDF). p. 5.
  17. ^ Jaba Devdariani. "Georgia: Rise and Fall of the Façade Democracy" (PDF). p. 103.
  18. ^ Jaba Devdariani. "Georgia: Rise and Fall of the Façade Democracy" (PDF). pp. 104, 107.
  19. ^ "Georgia: What are the obstacles to the Shevardnadze-Ardzinba meeting?". Reliefweb. 8 December 1998.
  20. ^ "Election Platform of the Labor Party". Civil Georgia.
  21. ^ "Natelashvili – A Showy Leader". Civil Georgia. 8 May 2006.
  22. ^ "Labor Party: Georgia should Say No to NATO". Civil Georgia.
  23. ^ "Why Georgia Dare Not Risk Declaring Neutrality". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  24. ^ "Georgia: The last "people's" president". Ukrainian Prism.
  25. ^ "შედეგები 2014".
  26. ^ https://archiveresults.cec.gov.ge/results/20171021/proporciuli.html
  27. ^ "Არჩევნების შედეგები". Archived from the original on 2017-07-01.
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