Christian-Democratic Movement (Georgia)

Christian-Democratic Movement

ქრისტიანულ-დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა
Christian-Democratic Movement ქრისტიანულ-დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა
Leader	Giorgi Targamadze
Founded	2008
Ideology	Christian democracy ; Conservatism ; Social conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
European affiliation	Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists ; European Christian Political Movement
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
Colours	Maroon and gold
Seats in Parliament	0 / 150
Website
	www.cdm.ge
	Politics of Georgia; Political parties; Elections;

The Christian-Democratic Movement (Georgian: ქრისტიანულ-დემოკრატიული მოძრაობა, k’ristianul-demokratiuli modzraoba, KDM) is a political party in Georgia, founded in February 2008 and led by Giorgi Targamadze, formerly a Imedi TV anchor who had once been a Member of the Parliament of Georgia and a close ally of Aslan Abashidze, then a regional leader of Adjara. Former Imedi TV journalists Magda Anikashvili and Giorgi Akhvlediani and former Imedi producer Levan Vepkhvadze, all of whom left the station in January 2008, and one of the leading figures in the party Nika Laliashvili also joined the party.

At the May 21 2008 Georgian legislative election, the party was one of several opposition parties to gain seats in Parliament. However the opposition parties as a whole had such small representation, after elections they considered rigged, that almost all the elected MPs renounced their mandates. The Christian Democrat members however chose to retain their seats, and the party has thus become the main opposition to the ruling United National Movement in Parliament, often referred to as the "Parliamentary Opposition."

Christian-Democratic Movement is a leading party in the parliamentary minority group, and has most of support in opposition political movements. According to Greenberg Quinlan Rosner a global leader in public opinion research and strategic consulting social survey poll, that was held from September 28 to October 2 2010 in Georgia, the main leaders of the opposition at present, 47% answered Giorgi Targamadze, Christian Democratic Movement.

Among its policies is a commitment to making Orthodox Christianity the state religion of Georgia.^[1]

The party joined the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists in August 2012.

The heavily polarized October 2012 Legislative election resulted in the third place for the party, but a mere 2.05% of the votes was not enough to get any of its candidates to the parliament, and the party lost all its six seats.