[9][10] The parties ranged from pro-market and pro-Western liberals to nationalists and protectionists, united in their dislike of Mikheil Saakashvili and UNM.

United National Movement led by Mikheil Saakashvili had become increasingly unpopular due to numerous scandals, alleged abuse of power, and controversial economic reforms.

[16] In January 2012, Ivanishvili brokered partnership with the Conservative Party, while the National Forum announced its alliance with GD-DG on 6 February.

[26][27] In response to GD rallies that regularly attracted tens of thousands of people, the government responded by staging a rival mass event.

The next day, President Saakashvili accepted the results as legitimate, while at the same time noting that he remained deeply opposed to the coalition.

Georgia maintained the free market economic model, while also establishing a functional social safety net.

Former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili, governor of Kakheti Zurab Tchiaberashvili, and Head of the Penitentiary Department Bacho Akhalaia were among the ones who were arrested.

Overall more than 20,000 complaints were filed by citizens and inmates with the Prosecutor's Office in connection to the past administration, including 4,000 cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment.

[46] Thus, diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia remained formally broken (a fact resulting from the 2008 August Russo-Georgian war).

[47] The "Prague Format" of Russia-Georgia relations was not meant to facilitate the resolution of disputes regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as both sides remained at odds over these issues.

[49] The Prague Format was rather focused on a pragmatic process on matters of mutual interest that are unrelated to the breakaways, such as economics and humanitarian issues.

[50] In February 2013, Tamar Beruchachvili, the Deputy State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia, ruled out joining the Eurasian Economic Union.

[51] For the 2013 presidential election the coalition decided on a common candidate in May 2013, with Ivanishvili presenting Giorgi Margvelashvili, the education minister.

[30] During Garibashvili's tenure, Association Agreement was signed with the European Union on 27 June 2014, with it being fully ratified by Georgia and all EU member states by January 2016.

[a] Prime Minister Garibashvili stated that the new anti-discrimination law exemplified the "long Georgian tradition of tolerance", however, he also noted that the marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

Garibashvili added that a constitutional amendment was necessary to avoid confusion in the society that the anti-discrimination law granted any new rights or privileges to any group and therefore would lead to same-sex marriage in the future.

Prime Minister added that the anti-discrimination law was designed to enable every citizen equally use the rights that are already defined by the legislation.

[64] Major cracks began to appear within the ruling coalition in 2014, with some observers already in January 2013 describing the government as a "fragile unity", predicting it would dissolve either due to disagreements over the distribution of government positions, foreign policy differences, or the receding threat of the United National Movement returning to power.

[76][77] Describing himself as a "more of a centre-right politician", Kvirikashvili focused on attracting foreign investment and presented his vision of Georgia as a "stable democracy" with "open market" and "liberal economy".

[92] Kvirikashvili led the Georgian Dream party to a landslide victory in the 2016 parliamentary election, winning a constitutional majority of 115 seats out of 150.

[97] In February 2019, the party announced that it was leaving the Georgian Dream majority, with its leader Gia Jorjoliani citing disagreements on economic, agricultural, and pension matters.

[98] The disassociation with the Georgian Dream party was eventually formalized by March 2019, with some members becoming independent MPs, while Social Democrats leader Jorjoliani and others joined the Alliance of Patriots faction in parliament.

Jorjoliani cited general agreement on core issues such as "support for lower classes" and patriotic values as the reason for him joining the faction.

The Conservative Party left the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority following disagreements within the government over electoral reform in November 2019.

[105] Georgian Dream's 12-point manifesto included among other policies, the development of liberal democracy, deepening integration with the European Union and NATO, and improvement of education and healthcare infrastructure.

[106] The main goals of Georgian Dream were stated to be a revival of agriculture, lowering taxes on the poor, universal health insurance, normalization of relations with Russia and strengthening Georgia's ties to the EU and NATO.

Ivanishvili has been described as a central figure maintaining the unity of the coalition through his leadership, with his message to the public being based on utilizing output-oriented expertise as a governance strategy, in particular, the managerial skills he earned as a business leader, promising "effectiveness".

An additional example is the government introducing universal health care but later reverting it to a non-universal system after a significant increase in public expenses.

[65] The coalition's program itself sought to combine the European Union and NATO integration with a balanced foreign policy with Russia.

Upon taking office as prime minister in October 2012, Ivanishvili promised to push for Georgia's integration with the West, while at the same time combining it with a bid to restore relations with Russia.