Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s Georgian Dream retained the majority in the 150-member Parliament (see note) but reduced its share of seats from 115 to 90. The opposition United National Movement (UNM, a party founded by former President Mikheil Saakashvili), increased its share from 27 to 36. Seven other opposition parties shared the remaining 24 seats. All the eight opposition parties had boycotted the second round of the elections, arguing the elections had been rigged. They demanded fresh parliamentary elections; a call rejected by Georgian Dream. Several anti-government protesters were held in Tbilisi after the first round.

On 11 December, President Salome Zourabichvili inaugurated the newly elected Parliament. All the eight opposition parties boycotted the inauguration. On 24 December, Parliament confirmed Prime Minister Gakharia and his new Cabinet.

The 2020 elections were held amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Gakharia himself tested positive shortly after the first round of the elections. The major electoral issues included the economy (which was affected by the pandemic), the country’s accession to the European Union and NATO, and its relationship with the Russian Federation.

Note:
The 2020 elections were the first to be held after the constitutional amendments adopted by Parliament on 29 June 2020. They retained the mixed electoral system but allotted significantly more seats to be filled under the proportional representation (PR) system: 120, up from 77 previously. The 30 remaining seats continued to be filled under the majority system (two-round system). The new electoral system applies to the 2020 elections. Starting from 2024, parliamentary elections will be held under a pure PR system. The threshold to win PR seats was lowered from 5 to 1%. Nine parties won the PR seats in 2020, up from three in 2016.

On 2 July, Parliament adopted amendments to the electoral code which effectively reserve at least 25% of the 120 PR seats (i.e. 30 seats) for women. For the 2020 and 2024 elections, a party list must include at least one candidate of a different gender in every four candidates on the list. For the 2028 and 2032 elections, this will be reduced to every three candidates. In 2020, a total of 31 women were elected, up from 24 in 2016.