United National Movement

This article is about the Georgian political party. For other uses, see United National Movement (disambiguation).

United National Movement
ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა
AbbreviationUNM
ChairmanTinatin Bokuchava
Honorary ChairmanMikheil Saakashvili
Leader of Women's WingTinatin Bokuchava
Political SecretaryPetre Tsiskarishvili
Founder
FoundedOctober 2001 (2001-10)
Split fromUnion of Citizens
HeadquartersTbilisi
Ideology
Political positionCentre[10] to centre-right[12]
National affiliation
European affiliationEuropean People's Party (affiliate)[13]
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union
Colors  Red and   White
  Maroon (customary)
Seats In Parliament
8 / 150
Municipal Councilors
441 / 2,068
Seats In Supreme Council of Adjara
7 / 21
Seats In Tbilisi City Assembly
10 / 50
Seats In Kutaisi City Assembly
5 / 35
Seats In Batumi City Assembly
7 / 35
Seats In Rustavi City Assembly
11 / 35
Municipal Mayors
1 / 64
Website
unm.ge

United National Movement (UNM; Georgian: ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, romanized: ertiani natsionaluri modzraoba) also colloquially known as the Natsebi[a] is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the party's chairman, while its honorary chairman Mikheil Saakashvili is considered the de facto leader.

UNM was founded by Mikheil Saakashvili in 2001, in opposition to Eduard Shevardnadze's government, rising to power following the Rose Revolution in 2003. During its nine-year rule, UNM implemented several major reforms. The government focused on rooting out corruption and crime, establishing a free market economy, pursuing a pro-Western foreign policy, and regaining territorial integrity. The latter two put it in direct conflict with Russia exploding into a full-on war in 2008 that resulted in 20% of Georgia's territory being occupied by Russia to this day.

During its second term, accusations mounted over UNM's alleged authoritarian tendencies with its detractors highlighting poor prison conditions, violent protest dispersals, and media and business intimidation as issues.[14][15] This culminated in the Gldani prison scandal with several videos being released showing prison guards torturing, taunting, and sexually assaulting detainees.[16][17] UNM subsequently lost the 2012 parliamentary election to Georgian Dream. It has since served as the main opposition party frequently criticizing the government for what it sees as its pro-Russia policies.[18]

  1. ^ a b c d Dr. Maia Urushadze; Dr. Tamar Kiknadze (2–4 July 2021). "The Relevance of the Actual Values of the Political Actors of Georgia with the Ideologies Declared by Them". Diamond Scientific Publishing.
  2. ^ Carles Jovaní (6 October 2016). "Has democracy become routine in Georgia? A competitive parliamentary election suggests so". Commonspace.eu.
  3. ^ [1][2]
  4. ^ Alexander Scrivener (March 2016). "Georgia's Parliament: A Rubber Stamp No Longer?" (PDF). Georgian Institute of Politics.
  5. ^ [1][4]
  6. ^ a b "Parties, Parliaments and Polling Averages: Georgia". Europe Elects.
  7. ^ [1][6]
  8. ^ "საარჩევნო კომპასი საპარლამენტო არჩევნები: პოლიტიკური სურათი". Geo Compass.
  9. ^ "Is UNM left-wing or right-wing?". PolitPro.
  10. ^ [8][9]
  11. ^ "Georgia - Parliamentary Elections". Center for Strategic & International Studies.
  12. ^ [1][6][11]
  13. ^ "Parties & Partners". epp.eu.
  14. ^ Zaza Bibilashvili (21 November 2021). "20 years from Georgia's Rose Revolution". Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
  15. ^ Joshua Kucera (25 July 2024). "Never Mind Unseating Georgian Dream, Georgia's Opposition Must First Overcome Internal Frictions". Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.
  16. ^ Gavin Slade; Iago Kachkachishvili; Lela Tsiskarishvili; Nika Jeiranashvili; Nino Gobronidze (2014). "Crime and Excessive Punishment: the Prevalence and Causes of Human Rights Abse in Georgia' prisons" (PDF). Open Society Georgia Foundation.
  17. ^ "Georgia prison scandal highlights widespread torture". Daily News Egypt. 19 September 2012.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference based was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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