Union of Citizens of Georgia

Union of Citizens of Georgia საქართველოს მოქალაქეთა კავშირი
General Secretary	Eduard Shevardnadze
Founded	21 November 1993[1]
Dissolved	23 November 2003
Headquarters	Tbilisi
Ideology	Big tent[2][3] Euro-Atlanticism[4] Factions: Social democracy[citation needed] Liberalism[3] Conservatism[3][5]
Political position	Syncretic
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists (observer)
International affiliation	Socialist International
Colours	Blue   Yellow
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

Union of Citizens of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს მოქალაქეთა კავშირი, romanized: sakartvelos mokalaketa k'avshiri) (UCG) (also known as the Citizens' Union of Georgia or Georgian Citizens' Union) was the ruling party of Georgia from 1993 to 2003. It was established by the president Eduard Shevardnadze, who had previously server as the Communist leader of the Georgian SSR from 1972 to 1985, and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of the Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia.

Shevardnadze led the party to victory in the 1995 and 1999 parliamentary elections, however the party disbanded soon after his removal from power in the aftermath of the Rose Revolution, which occurred following the 2003 parliamentary election which was widely seen as being rigged.^[5]

During UCG’s rule, the country suffered from severe corruption and political instability. The government is generally described as being "semi-authoritarian" tolerating pluralism and political competition as long as it did not substantially challenge the party’s grip on power.^[5][6] UCG is described as having distinct conservative and liberal factions, the latter of which advocated for reforms.^[3][5] In foreign policy UCG supported Georgia’s membership in the European Union and NATO.^[4]