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![handle is hein.crs/crsaijc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21685
Updated December 4, 2003
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Coup in Georgia [Republic]: Recent
Developments and Implications
Jim Nichol
Analyst in Russian and Eurasian Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
This report examines the ouster of Georgia's President Eduard Shevardnadze in the
wake of a legislative election that many Georgians viewed as not free and fair.
Implications for Georgia and U.S. interests are discussed. This report may be updated
as events warrant. See also CRS Report 97-727, Georgia; and CRS Issue Brief
1B95024, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, updated regularly.
Background'
Former President Eduard Shevardnadze had led Georgia since 1972, except for 1985-
1992, during which he primarily served as the pro-Western foreign minister of the Soviet
Union. Shevardnadze's constitutional limit of two terms in office expired in 2005, which
made the November 2, 2003, legislative election a critical bell-weather of who might
succeed him. Nine party blocs and twelve parties contested 150 legislative seats in a party
list vote, and another 75 seats were contested in single constituencies.
Shevardnadze's party, the Citizens' Union of Georgia (CUG), had become deeply
unpopular as economic conditions failed to noticeably improve. To strengthen its chances
in the election, in April 2003 the CUG formed an alliance termed For a New Georgia
(FNG) with other pro-Shevardnadze parties. Three opposition parties that had split from
the CUG contested for seats: the National Movement (led by former Justice Minister
Mikhail Saakashvili); the United Democrats (led by former Speaker Zurab Zhvania and
Speaker Nino Burjanadze); and the businessmen-led New Right Party. Other major
parties included the Revival Party (led by Ajaria' s regional leader Aslan Abashidze), and
the populist Labor Party. Campaigning tended to focus on personal attacks rather than
ideology or platforms. Saakashvili called for forcing Shevardnadze to resign, raising
pensions and wages, taxing the rich, and fighting corruption. Abashidze also criticized
1 Sources for this report include the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), Central
Eurasia: Daily Report; Eurasia Insight; Johnson's List; the State Department's Washington File;
and Reuters, Agence France Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP), and other newswires.
Congressional Research Service *** The Library of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/crsaijc0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)