[5] According to another amendment, passed on 1 July 2011, the parliament elected in 2012 would be permanently relocated from Tbilisi to the country's second largest city of Kutaisi.

On 27 June 2011, the UNM succeeded in getting a majority of the votes for its proposed electoral system reform, effectively splintering the Group of Eight opposition coalition.

[7] Democratic Movement – United Georgia, a radical opposition party led by Nino Burjanadze, which had refused to join the electoral reform talks, was behind the 21–26 May 2011 rallies, which ended with a clash with police, leaving four dead.

On 27 May 2012, Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream alliance announced the start of the campaign, drawing tens of thousands of supporters in a large anti-government rally in downtown Tbilisi.

[13][14][15] After the screening of a video on Maestro TV and Ivanishvili's TV9 channel, showing torture in a Georgian prison, demonstrators called for Saakashvili's resignation.

They were due to meet with President Saakashvili, Speaker of Parliament David Bakradze, Secretary of the National Security Council Giga Bokeria, unnamed opposition figures and the EU's electoral Monitoring Mission.

This followed a visit by the foreign ministers of Sweden and Poland the previous week in order to discuss preparations for the election with unnamed national leaders and opposition figures.

[19] The OSCE electoral observer team's Tonino Picula said on 23 August said his organization's monitors "had seen a growing political polarization in the country.

They were particularly concerned by the practice of the State Audit Office of using broad discretionary authority to investigate the legality of individual or party spending and making questionable decisions and imposing harsh penalties without clear or transparent guidelines.

[20] President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Riccardo Migliori added that "there was little part of Leninism in Georgian electoral campaign, rather than presenting programs, they were trying to destroy their enemies.

[23] Georgian Dream leader Ivanishvili called on the president to resign to avoid a "sort of dual power situation,"[24] but took back this demand on the day after.

[26] Georgian Dream activists gathered in front of some District Election Commissions in constituencies where UNM candidates were leading, according to official preliminary results.

[27] Representatives of the joint opposition list challenged the official figures and asserted that Georgian Dream had won more seats than announced by the Electoral Commission.