Movement for Social Democracy, a progressive force that emerged during ongoing anti-government protests, held an inaugural congress in Tbilisi on November 15 to launch as a political party.
The movement, which draws on the social democratic legacy of Georgia’s First Republic (1918–1921) to develop a platform focused on solidarity and social justice, seeks to establish itself as a political party amid Georgia’s prolonged political crisis and an increasingly restrictive environment for political opposition and civil society.
During the event at Tbilisi’s Courtyard Marriott hotel, which was also livestreamed on social media, the founding members presented the party’s charter, elected a 16-member body to govern the party for the coming year, and approved a five-member audit commission and two individuals authorized to represent the party. At least 337 people registered as willing to become party members at the time of the inaugural congress, the group said.
“Today’s decision to establish a new political party must become an answer to the despair and nihilism prevalent in the country; it must become an opportunity for people who have been driven out of politics, deprived of their voice, impoverished, and oppressed; it must lay the groundwork for restoring meaning to citizenship and bringing citizens themselves back into politics,” Sopho Verdzeuli, elected as one of the persons to represent the party, said during the congress.
Movement for Social Democracy emerged through the months of pro-EU, anti-government protests that erupted on November 28, 2024.
Many of its members first came together through the daily “Public Broadcaster” rallies and marches, which called for fair coverage by the state television channel. The group gradually evolved into a broader movement embracing social and political causes, formally launching a movement in February 2025.
According to the Movement, the establishment as a party comes in response “to a severe political crisis, deepening social and economic inequality, the erosion of democratic institutions, and the country’s growing isolation from the European Union – trends that collectively clear the path for the rapid rise of authoritarianism.”
The group seeks to operate with principles of strong internal democracy and collective decision-making. The movement says that it brings together professionals across various fields, students, emigrants, and others committed to social justice.
“We believe that democracy has no future in this country without social justice, just as social justice cannot exist without a democratic political system,” Verdzeuli said as he addressed the founding members.
According to the party’s foundational programme, the movement seeks to address the “unbearable and hopeless” situation in the country with “fundamentally new solutions” rather than retreating “from today’s authoritarian dead end to a past in which the principles of liberal democracy and a liberal economic order are presumed to have worked better.”
The movement has emerged to fill a longstanding gap in Georgia’s party landscape, which, while including a number of liberal, pro-European groups, has long lacked a political force with a strong progressive focus.
Despite the widely acknowledged need for new visions to address the country’s social and economic problems, and the success of a number of progressive campaigns in recent years, the country’s left has until recently struggled to consolidate into a prominent, influential political force.
The delay has been attributed to lingering anti-socialist stigmas in post-Soviet society, the difficulties of breaking into a political arena shaped by financial disparities and government crackdown, and the failure of various progressive groups to overcome their differences and unite.
The group, however, has yet to complete its official registration as a political party with the Public Registry. Other recently established political forces have reported facing obstacles in the registration process in recent months and years.
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