Georgian legislative election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in the Georgia on March 28, 2004. The elections followed the annulment of the November 2003 legislative elections, which were widely believed to have been rigged by the former President, Eduard Shevardnadze. New elections were ordered following the resignation of Shevardnadze and the election of President Mikhail Saakashvili in January 2004.

The elections were won by the National Movement - Democrats (NMD), the party supporting President Mikhail Saakashvili. The NMD won 67% of the vote, while no other party won more than 7.6%.

As a result, the NMD won most of the 130 seats elected by proportional representation in the Georgian Parliament. Of the 20 parties contesting the elections, only the NMD and the Right Opposition bloc polled more than 7% of the vote, the threshold necessary to gain representation.

The new Georgian Parliament will also include 85 members elected from single-member constituencies, who were elected in the November 2003 elections and have not been required to face re-election. The exact party loyalty of these members is not known, but Georgian websites suggest that about 23 of them are NMD members or supporters, about 15 are opposition supporters, and the rest are independents.

The National Movement - Democrats party unites President Saakashvili's National Movement, Prime-Minister Zurab Zhvania's United Democrats, the Republican Party, supporters of Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and some of the supporters of the late President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the Union of National Forces.

The Right Opposition is a center-right pro-business alliance led by David Gamkrelidze.

At a press conference, Saakashvili said: "I think the people have given their verdict. I am not pleased that there is not more opposition representation, because that would have helped my party too to consolidate. But that is the reality, the post-revolutionary reality."

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