As the Election Day of October 8th approaches, we hear more and more about the platforms of Georgian political parties. Given that political competition is very fierce, one naturally expects to hear some blatantly populist statements – the kind of political promises (known to humanity from the times of Aristophanes) which are very popular among the voters, but are hard or impossible to implement in practice.

The 2012 elections can be regarded as one of the most important events in the political life of Georgia. More so than at any time during the country’s 20-year history of independence, these elections were distinguished by a high level of uncertainty regarding the final results, and fierce competition between the ruling party and its major opponents.

The objective of the project was to review social and economic platforms of Georgian political parties in key reform areas during the 2012 parliamentary election campaign. This project, involving a coalition of Georgian think tanks and NGOs, sought to review political party platforms in key reform areas such as employment, rural development, and education during the 2012 parliamentary election campaign