Misplaced Pages

2003 Georgian parliamentary election

← 1999 2 November 2003 2004 →
All 225 seats in the Parliament 113 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	60.06% ( 7.84 pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– For a New Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze 22.10 57 −74 DAK Aslan Abashidze 19.54 39 −19 UNM Mikheil Saakashvili 18.74 42 New SLP Shalva Natelashvili 12.48 23 +21 Burjanadze-Democrats Nino Burjanadze 9.12 19 New New Rights David Gamkrelidze 7.62 16 New MGS Gogi Topadze 6.40 4 −11 Independents – – 21 +4 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Chairwoman of Parliament before Chairwoman of Parliament after Nino Burjanadze Burjanadze-Democrats Nino Burjanadze Burjanadze-Democrats

Politics of Georgia
Constitution Constitutional court Human rights LGBT rights
Executive President Salome Zourabichvili Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze
Legislature Parliament Chairperson: Shalva Papuashvili
Judiciary Supreme Court Constitutional Court
Local governmentAdministrative divisions Regions (mkhare) Municipalities
Election Administration Recent elections Parliamentary: 2016 2020 Presidential: 2013 2018 Local: 2017 2021 Political parties
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Ilia Darchiashvili Diplomatic missions of / in Georgia Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Georgia–European Union relations Georgia–NATO relations Georgia–Russia relations Georgia–Ukraine relations
Related topics Rose Revolution United Nations Observer Mission Politics of Abkhazia Politics of South Ossetia
Georgia portal Other countries
v t e

Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 2 November 2003 alongside a constitutional referendum. According to statistics released by the Georgian Election Commission, the elections were won by a combination of parties supporting President Eduard Shevardnadze.

However, the results were annulled by the Georgia Supreme Court after the Rose Revolution on 25 November, following allegations of widespread electoral fraud and large public protests which led to the resignation of Shevardnadze. Fresh elections were held on 28 March 2004.

Parties

"For a New Georgia" was the electoral bloc that supported President Eduard Shevardnadze. The Revival Party was an ally of Shevardnadze. The National Movement (NM) was the party of opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili.

Conduct

Reports of violence, voter intimidation and ballot box stuffing began coming in shortly after the polling stations opened. The biggest problem, however, was the voter lists prepared by the Georgian government. Mikhail Saakashvili was among tens of thousands who were denied the right to vote. His name, along with names of many thousands across the country, was missing from the voter list prepared by the Georgian government. Entire neighborhoods were mysteriously removed from the voter list in the areas where opposition was likely to do well.

Georgian analysts described the vote as "the messiest and most chaotic election" the country has ever had. "The government did everything to make this election chaotic. I think there were also (those in) government (who) did not want this election to be orderly because they knew they would lose it," said Ghia Nodia of the Caucasus Institute for Democracy and Development.

An international mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declared that the election fell short of international standards. "These elections have, regrettably, been insufficient to enhance the credibility of either the electoral or the democratic process," said Bruce George, special co-ordinator of the OSCE chairman-in-office. Some 450 international observers from 43 countries monitored the polls in one of the largest and longest election observation missions in the OSCE's history.

Supporting the allegations of electoral fraud were also exit polls conducted by an American company, Global Strategy, which showed that the opposition had won by a large margin, with the National Movement coming first with 20% and the government block polling only 14% of the vote.

Results

References

1. Georgian Supreme Court Rejects Shevardnadze Poll Results The Guardian. 25 November 2003
2. "Georgian parliamentary elections marred by confusion over voter lists". OSCE. 3 November 2003
3. "Post-election interim report" Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, OSCE, 25 November 2003

v t e Elections and referendums in Georgia
Presidential elections	1991 1992 1995 2000 2004 2008 2013 2018
Parliamentary elections	1919 1938 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1980 1985 1990 1992 1995 1999 2003 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Local elections	1919 1991 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2017 2021 2025
Referendums	1991 2003 2008
See also: Election Administration Elections and referendums in Abkhazia Adjara South Ossetia

• Annulled elections
• Parliamentary elections in Georgia (country)
• Rose Revolution
• 2003 elections in Europe
• 2003 in Georgia (country)