Last
October 2012, Georgia witnessed a watershed moment with its first peaceful,
democratic transfer of power since independence, from the ruling party to the
opposition. Independence took place as in other former Soviet Republics in
1991, in some it occurred a year before, in others, a year later. In the case
of Georgia independence was proclaimed in March 1991.
The case of
Georgia is very interesting as it is the first country within the Caucasus or
Central Asian republics, formerly belonging to the Soviet Union, where a peaceful,
democratic transfer of power occurred. The elections held were for the Georgian
Parliament where the opposition party "Georgian Dream" won the
majority of seats and since October 2012 has co-existed with a President from a
different Party, "United National Movement or UNM"
This
October 2013 will bring another major milestone as Georgians return to the
polls to select a successor to President Mikheil Saakashvili.
OSCE/ODIHR Electoral Observation http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/georgia/66638
OSCE/ODIHR Electoral Observation http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/georgia/66638
