Rose Revolution

Rose Revolution
Part of the Colour revolutions
Demonstrators spending the night in front of the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi
Date	3–23 November 2003
Location	Georgia
Caused by	Economic mismanagement Electoral fraud Political corruption Poverty State failure
Goals	New elections Resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze Anti-corruption reforms Reintegration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia European integration
Methods	Widespread demonstrations
Resulted in	Resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze Snap parliamentary and presidential elections called United National Movement takes power Mikheil Saakashvili sworn in as president
Parties
United National Movement Kmara Burjanadze-Democrats Union of National Forces Government of Georgia Police of Georgia
Lead figures
Mikheil Saakashvili Nino Burjanadze Zurab Zhvania Eduard Shevardnadze

The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses (Georgian: ვარდების რევოლუცია, romanized: vardebis revolutsia) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections and culminated in the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, which marked the end of the Soviet era leadership in the country. The revolution derives its name from the climactic moment, when demonstrators led by Mikheil Saakashvili stormed the Parliament session with red roses in hand.^[1]

The revolution was led by Shevardnadze's former political allies, Mikheil Saakashvili, Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Zhvania. Consisting of twenty days of protests from 3 to 23 November 2003, the Revolution triggered new presidential and parliamentary elections in Georgia, which brought the National Movement–Democrats coalition to the power.^[2] The death of Zurab Zhvania in uncertain circumstances and the withdrawal of Nino Burjanadze into opposition eventually established the United National Movement as the single ruling party. The next change of power in Georgia was brought by the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election.

The Rose Revolution is considered one of the early examples of colour revolutions. It was marked by strong role of non-governmental organizations and student activism. The role of the United States, as in other colour revolutions, has been a subject of significant controversy.^[3]

The legacy of Rose Revolution is controversial, primarily because of the drastic reforms of the post-revolution government being largely based on violence and abuse. This was marked by the 2012 Gldani prison scandal, which confirmed the widespread torture in the Georgian prisons under the post-revolution government of United National Movement party.^[4][5]