There seems to be an unspoken agenda behind this whole operation, because why would you complicate educational access to the EU and US for your young talents?

To bring Georgia to the Russian education world. It’s an attempt to “naturally” make youngsters orientate to Russia. Like water flows.

Earlier GD already indicated they wanted to keep more students in Georgia, while making the bar to go to the EU or US would be heightened: an additional bridge year is required and the government said they will provide for that.

However, students can go to Russia without that.

It’s a relevant distinction as Georgian Dream wants to reduce the curriculum from 12 to 11 years, breaking the Bologna Convention on international recognition of diplomas. He could not answer the question why they would do that other than “we can do the curriculum in 11 years so why not?”.

So last year secondary parties in alliances had to de-member their candidates and register them as “non-party” to run on the common list of the lead party of the alliance.

Now GD moves to further restrict options of (informal) alliances and make participation only possible for full party members.

This was already a restriction last year from a more open system where parties could register as “blocs” and field candidates from all parties in that bloc / alliance under their own party banned on the common list. This was abolished per 2024.

So what is the change?

Candidates running in name of a party in local majoritarian districts, for mayor or om party lists (both local and parliament) have to be a member of that party.

Until now candidates not a member of that party could register as a “non-party” candidate.

The agency was often criticized for its lack of independence. The Georgian government believes it addresses that with the new configuration.

Lately the organization has been involved in targeting NGOs

Out of an estimated 1 million diaspora members, only 10% registered in the elections last year, and only 1/3 of that actually voted - hardly putting any weight in the scale.

But GD clearly wants to cut off the possibility the diaspora gets more committed to voting - as the vote is against them.

In the 2024 campaign Georgian Dream vowed to restore the territorial integrity that nobody took very serious, other than that they accused GD of opening the door to make a deal with Moscow.

Later Ivanishvili said to apologize to South Ossetians for 2008 war.
eurasianet.org/georgian-pol...

English article on the bill that has been initiated to abolish the administration.

The aim of this is not yet very clear, other than undoing what the Saakashvili government did (for that they did not need to wait 13 years).

www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/1...

Under Soviet rule, the region was an autonomous region (oblast), which the Georgian Soviet government abolished in December 1990 after the South Ossetians declared their own Soviet republic and attempted to step out of the Georgian soviet republic. It was the run-up to the war, starting in Jan-1991.

"There is no such thing as 'South Ossetia' in 🇬🇪 legal or political space. Accordingly, as result of consultations with the government, we have made a decision to abolish the administration of the administrative-territorial unit created on the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region"

Georgian Dream now decided to abolish the body, considering it illegally established with provocative intentions. Also after ruling for 13 years GD decided to consider the name with "South Ossetia" in violation of the "non-recognition" policy. Georgia refers to the region is "Tskhinvali region"

The elected Dmitri Sanakoev maintained this position until 2022. As result of the 2008 war, the administration had to relocated to Tbilisi and administered the interests of the internal refugees of the war, who were living in various IDP settlements throughout the country, most notably Tserovani.

In 2006 Georgia organized leadership elections, in the same day as the South Ossetian separatist government did to elect their president. This infuriated the South Ossetians obviously. A referendum was also held in which participating voters voted in favor of a peaceful resolution within Georgia.

The body administered the "Temporary Administrative-Territorial Unit on the Territory of the Former Autonomous Region of South Ossetia", which comprised of Akhalgori municipality and the in 2006 established "temporary municipalities" Eredvi, Kurta and Tigva, with its center in the village Kurta.