Georgia’s Elections Reveal Regression of Democracy and Gender Equity. The Country’s First Female President Is Fighting Back.
Marked by an unprecedented number of elections worldwide, the 2024 global election super-year has paradoxically revealed a concerning regression in both democratic norms and gender equality. From Latin America to Eastern Europe, election results have signaled the global rise of right-wing authoritarianism and a growing backlash against women’s inclusion in politics. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in Georgia, a small yet strategically significant country bridging Europe and Asia.
On Oct. 27, Georgia held pivotal parliamentary elections that many hoped would realign the nation with its pro-European and democratic aspirations. However, the ruling Georgian Dream party, known for its anti-Western rhetoric and led by an oligarch and the country’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, retained power through disputed elections. This occurred despite over 70 percent of the population supporting EU and NATO integration.
The election results have sparked mass protests and prompted calls from the U.S. and the Western partners for Georgia’s election committee to investigate alleged irregularities and schedule new elections under international supervision. On Nov. 28, the ruling party caused further outcry by unilaterally pausing Georgia’s EU accession process.
In the long term, these developments raise serious questions about Georgia’s future and have broader implications for gender equality, human rights and freedom of choice within the country and the region.
President Salome Zourabichvili
Amid this political and social turmoil, Georgia’s first female president, Salome Zourabichvili, has defied the status quo. Breaking away from her government, she has emerged as a staunch advocate for Georgia’s democratic identity, Western alignment and liberal values rooted in equality and the rule of law. During ongoing protests, she has stood alongside the protesters and courageously confronted the riot police directly. She has become a trailblazing figure in Eastern Europe, challenging both authoritarian forces and deeply entrenched gender biases.
During her 2018 presidential campaign, Zourabichvili was backed by the Georgian Dream but since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the party intensified its anti-democratic rhetoric, causing a rift between the president and the government and giving impetus to a targeted campaign against the sitting head of state. The Georgian Dream was particularly enraged about President Zourabichvili’s opposition to several anti-democratic laws, including a Russia-style foreign agent law and an anti-LGBTQ+ bill. In retaliation, Georgian Dream has tried to ban her from attending international conferences and meetings with world leaders and has attempted to impeach her, though ultimately failed to remove her from power.
President Zourabichvili openly denounced the results of the election, in which Georgian Dream claimed a 54 percent victory. Opposition parties joined her in rejecting the results, citing widespread violations, including ballot stuffing, vote-buying and voter intimidation. Zourabichvili has also called for and led mass protests, which have been joined by over 200 thousand people in the capital, Tbilisi. The new wave of protests has erupted since Nov. 28 in reaction to the government’s decision to stop the E.U. integration process, with people demanding new elections. Many of the protests have been led by women civil society leaders and activists. President Zourabichvili has appealed the election results to Georgia’s Constitutional Court.
Democracy’s Erosion Disproportionately Impacts Women
This erosion of democratic norms often disproportionately impacts women and other marginalized groups. As elections become less representative and the public discourse drenched with politically-engineered narratives, the voices of those already underrepresented are further silenced. In addition, even the implicit recognition of the unfair election process further emboldens leaders who seek to exclude women and other marginalized groups from political power.
Georgia’s legislative changes earlier this year illustrate how quickly progress can be undone. Recent shifts in electoral policy rolled back gender quotas, leading to a significant decrease in the number of women on party lists. Without these quotas, Georgian political parties have largely failed to promote women candidates or platforms addressing women’s issues. Female politicians in Georgia still face deeply ingrained stereotypes, harassment and even violence. During the recent election, several female opposition leaders reported facing threats, intimidation and vandalism, with posters of their faces purposefully defaced.
Georgia’s 2024 election reflects a broader, global decline in women’s representation in politics—a trend that has characterized much of this year’s “super-cycle” of elections. Although a handful of countries elected female leaders in 2024, including Iceland, Moldova, Mexico and North Macedonia, the parliamentary elections resulted in an overall decrease in women’s legislative representation. The setbacks in women’s political inclusion are a troubling reminder that gender equality, even in democratic nations, is far from guaranteed.
The rollback of gender quotas and the reduction in female candidates speak to a larger issue. Authoritarian-leaning governments often marginalize women’s voices, both to weaken political opposition and to promote a culture that discourages women’s participation in public life. In Georgia, this trend is particularly concerning given the country’s commitment to gender equality under its constitution and its ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). However, without enforceable protections, these commitments remain largely symbolic.
As the global election super-year draws to a close, what is unfolding in Georgia serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing democracy and gender equality worldwide. Women leaders like Zourabishvili, who stand firm in their commitment to democratic principles, offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise troubling landscape. Though her term ends in December, her legacy will resonate far beyond her presidency.
