Round Table—Free Georgia

Round Table—Free Georgia (Georgian: მრგვალი მაგიდა — თავისუფალი საქართველო, romanized: mrgvali magida — tavisupali sakartvelo) was an alliance of Georgian political parties led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia. It played a decisive role in the restoration of independence of Georgia and was a governing coalition in 1990-1992.

Round Table—Free Georgia მრგვალი მაგიდა - თავისუფალი საქართველო
Leader	Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Founded	May 1990 (1990-05)
Dissolved	January 1994
Headquarters	Tbilisi
Ideology	Georgian nationalism National conservatism Christian nationalism Christian democracy Pan-Caucasianism^[1] Social market economy^[2] State capitalism Factions: Constitutional monarchism
Political position	Centre-right to right-wing
International affiliation	Assembly of Popular Fronts and Movements from Republics Not Joining the Union Treaty^[3]
Politics of Georgia Political parties Elections

History

The alliance traces its origins to the Georgian independence movement of the 1980s. On 11–13 March 1990, several pro-independence Georgian political organizations held conference in Tbilisi to elect a coordinating body for their activities - National Forum. However, soon they split, and in May 1990, organizations supporting dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia established Round Table—Free Georgia alliance, calling for a peaceful transition to independence through participation in the official elections for the Supreme Council, the legislative body in the Soviet Georgia. Meanwhile, other organizations opted to set their own elections for an alternative legislative body, the National Congress. In October 1990, the Round Table—Free Georgia took part in the first multiparty parliamentary elections in the history of Soviet Georgia, receiving 53.99% of the overall votes and gaining majority in the Supreme Council.

Round Table formed the government in November 1990. Supported by the referendum, the alliance declared the independence of Georgia on 9 April 1991. Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected as a first-ever president of Georgia on 26 May 1991. However, the armed opposition staged the military coup and Zviad Gamsakhurdia was forced to flee the country in January 1992. The Military Junta dissolved the Supreme Council, dismissed President Zviad Gamsakhurdia from the post of President and assumed all power in the republic. Members of Round Table together with Zviad Gamsakhurdia fled to the neighboring Chechen republic of Ichkeria. On 12 March 1992, they organized a Georgian Supreme Council session in Grozny and formed the government in exile under Zviad Gamsakhurdia. They declared the Military Junta as illegal and continued to regard the disbanded Supreme Council as Georgia’s sole legitimate parliament.

Mingrelia, Gamsakhurdia’s home region, refused to obey to the post-coup government of Eduard Shevardnadze, and by August 1993 it came under almost full control of pro-Gamsakhurdia militias. In late August 1993, the Round Table—Free Georgia members held a Supreme Council session in Zugdidi and called on Zviad Gamsakhurdia to return to Georgia, which he did in September 1993. However, they were defeated in the civil war, while Gamsakhurdia was found dead in January 1994. After these events, the alliance dissolved.

Political platform

Economic policy

In his election program, Zviad Gamsakhurdia supported social market economy.^[2]

On 26 August 1991, the President Zviad Gamsakhurdia approved the prime minister–designate Besarion Gugushvili, who presented his economic program to the Parliament in support of state capitalism. It argued in favor of transition from socialist planned economy but also denounced calls for implementation of shock therapy and mass privatization. It claimed that the "egoistic stimuls" of the privatized enterprises would lead them to be more inclined towards Soviet market, exacerbating the economic dependency on Soviet Union and creating contradiction between the private entities and the national state. It thus argued that these policies were imperialist tools of Mikheil Gorbachev to retain influence on the post-Soviet sphere. It warned that the nomenklatura, a bureaucratic elite of the Soviet system, was trying to take control of the economy through converting its "political and administrative capital" into the "economic capital". The program warned about the risks of adopting foreign models and called for creation of economic policy based on general principles of private entrepreneurship, market economy and privatization, but in conformity with Georgian spirit, characteristics and traditional values. The program supported state capitalism, indicative planning, mixed economy and other forms of statism. It argued that the state should activily be involved in the economy, while private enterprises would be allowed to exist, they would compete with state companies. It claimed that the state involvement in the economy would ensure the welfare of the population. Thus, while the program opposed full-scale privatization, it still supported privatization, but the state and private sectors would develop harmonically. The program described the public sector as "a joint-stock company in which the whole nation is a shareholder and which is run by managers who are elected by the nation". It argued that the state sector should be run on democratic, national, patriotic principles, unlike the Soviet system, which was totalitarian and social-imperialistic tool of plundering the colonies like Georgia. The program warned against viewing mass privatization of public assets as the only instrument of creating private sector, arguing in favor of giving secured loans and using other instruments instead to encourage building new factories and enterprises, instead of giving away already existing ones which would be mismanaged due to lack of "traditions of care of private capital".

Pan-Caucasianism

The party promoted the concept of "Caucasian home", based on the idea of shared Ibero-Caucasian languages and common identity among autochthonous Caucasian nations, primarily Chechens, Abkhazians and Circassians. Turkic-speaking peoples and Armenians were not part of the project. It included a common economic zone, a Caucasian Forum and an alliance against foreign interference. It was basis of allegiance between Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev.^[4]

Role of religion

Round Table was a Christian nationalist party. In his inaugural speech, President Zviad Gamsakhurdia spoke about strengthening the role of religion and proposed an initiative to declare Orthodox Christianity the state religion.^[5]

List of parties

• Georgian Helsinki Group (Georgian: საქართველოს ჰელსინკის კავშირი, sakartvelos helsink’is k’avshiri)
• All-Georgian Society of St. Ilia II the Righteous (Georgian: სრულიად საქართველოს წმინდა ილია მართლის საზოგადოება, sruliad sakartvelos ts’minda ilia martlis sazogadoeba)
• All-Georgian Society of Merab Kostava (Georgian: სრულიად საქართველოს მერაბ კოსტავას საზოგადოება, sruliad sakartvelos merab k’ost’avas sazogadoeba)
• Union of Georgian Traditionalists (Georgian: ქართველ ტრადიციონალისტთა კავშირი, kartvel t’raditsionalist’ta k’avshiri)
• Georgian National Front — Radical Union (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული ფრონტი-რადიკალური კავშირი, sakartvelos erovnuli pront’i-radik’aluri k’avshiri)
• Georgian National–Liberal Union (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნულ-ლიბერალური კავშირი, sakartvelos erovnul-liberaluri k’avshiri)
• Georgian Christian–National Party (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნულ-ქრისტიანული პარტია, sakartvelos erovnul-krist’ianuli p’art’ia)

International affilation

On 25 and 26 May 1991, the delegates from Moldovian Popular Front, Lithuania’s Sajudis, Latvian Popular Front, Estonian Popular Front, Armenian Pan-National Movement and Georgia’s Round Table signed the founding documents of the Assembly of Popular Fronts and Movements from Republics Not Joining the Union Treaty in Chișinău, Moldova. The task of the organization was to function as a coordinating body for advocacy of the recognition of Soviet republics which had chosen not to sign the Mikhail Gorbachev’s New Union Treaty and had moved to set up independent states instead.^[6]

Electoral performance

Parliamentary election

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position
1990	Zviad Gamsakhurdia	1,248,111	54	155 / 250	New	1st

Presidential election

Election year	Candidate	Result
		# of overall votes	% of overall vote
1991	Zviad Gamsakhurdia	2,565,362	87.58 (#1)

Regional elections

Adjara

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position
1991	Aslan Abashidze	59,949	47,5	21 / 40	New	1st

References

1. Fawn, Rick (2003). Ideology and National Identity in Post-communist Foreign Policies. Psychology Press. pp. 93–95. ISBN 9780714655178.
2. Khositashvili, Mzia (2013). "Election Program of Mister Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Candidate for Presidency of Republic of Georgia: Economic Part". Georgian State Leaders: Official Documents, Appeals and Interviews, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, President of Republic of Georgia (1991) (in Georgian). Vol. 2. Tbilisi: Iridagroup - Printing Service. pp. 110–127. ISBN 978-9941-0-6246-9.
3. Tolz, Vera; Newton, Melanie (19 April 1993). The USSR In 1991: A Record Of Events. Avalon Publishing. p. 361. ISBN 978-0-8133-8717-8.
4. Fawn, Rick (2003). Ideology and National Identity in Post-communist Foreign Policies. Psychology Press. pp. 93–94. ISBN 9780714655178.
5. Bogishvili, Diana; Osepashvili, Irina; Gavashelishvili, Elene; Gugushvili, Nino (2016). Georgian National Identity: Conflict and Integration (PDF). Nekeri. p. 124. ISBN 978-9941-457-63-0.
6. Tolz, Vera; Newton, Melanie (19 April 1993). The USSR In 1991: A Record Of Events. Avalon Publishing. p. 361. ISBN 978-0-8133-8717-8.