Left wing in Georgian politics

In Georgian politics, most political parties lie to the right of the political spectrum. However, as the new parliamentary elections approach, political parties announce leftist slogans and make lofty promises in an attempt to attract voters. The population is then left with empty promises and a sense of false hope.

This is the case this time as well. The United National Movement Party, which is constantly advertizing its achievements and parading them to the West, have initiated many leftist populist programs and projects as these elections creep closer. Compared with the opposition, the ruling power has had enough time (8 years) to achieve something viable in the country. Unfortunately, there is not a visible decrease in unemployment; poverty has not been defeated. As some independent analysts suggest, not a single economically profitable project was implemented during those 8 years. Nevertheless, the National Movement continues giving out promises, reinforcing its promises with different figures and additional information, naming different projects with catchy slogans and headlines. These are short-term projects such as giving out vouchers, benefits, insurance policies and the like. Analysts observe that with their promises there is not much difference between the National Movement, the Georgian Dream, the Christian Democrats and the others; the difference is in the figures and the hope is more realistic. So, in a way this is a form of a bargain: who will promise more. Fantasy has no boundaries and promises become more unrealistic. So the voters are confused as to whom to trust and which political force has the highest level of trust.

As soon as Georgian Dream aired its program targeted at the elimination of unemployment, the healthcare system and agriculture, newly appointed PM Vano Merabishvili also repeated the same priorities as a target for the National Movement’s future plans. Surprisingly enough, the New Rights and Christian Democrats also give leftist promises in their pre-election campaign. However, thinking realistically, as many analysts suggest the most realistic promises are probably those given by the Georgian Dream. At least the financial background of its leader gives some confidence to their promises.