Conservative Movement (Georgia)

Not to be confused with Conservative Party of Georgia.

Conservative Movement/Alt Info კონსერვატიული მოძრაობა/ალტ ინფო
Chairman	Giorgi Kardava
General Secretary	Shota Martynenko
Founder	Zurab Makharadze Giorgi Kardava Irakli Martynenko Shota Martynenko Konstantine Morgoshia
Founded	20 November 2021 (2021-11-20)
Registered	7 December 2021 (2021-12-07)
Banned	11 April 2024 (2024-04-11)
Ideology	National conservatism Christian democracy Hard Euroscepticism Pro-Russian
Political position	Right-wing
Affiliated TV company	Alt-Info
Colours	Maroon
Parliament	0 / 150
Website
conservativemovement.ge
Politics of Georgia (country) Political parties Elections

Conservative Movement/Alt-Info (Georgian: კონსერვატიული მოძრაობა/ალტ-ინფო, romanized: k'onservat'iuli modzraoba/alt'-inpo) is a political party in Georgia. It was founded in 2021 and is closely aligned with the Alt-Info television channel.

History

Members of Alt-Info founded a political party in late 2021. The party was named Conservative Movement and was registered by the National Public Registry Agency on December 7. The founding congress was held on November 20, 2021. On April 11, 2022, the name of the party was changed to Conservative Movement/Alt Info.

On July 2, 2022, the party organized the demonstration against the pride parade and European integration in response to a pro-EU demonstration in Tbilisi asking the European Council to grant Georgia the status of a candidate for accession.

In September 2023, the party founded the "Anti-Maidan movement" in Georgia to counter an alleged plan of Western-funded groups and Ukraine-based Georgian politicians to stage a coup in Georgia.

On April 11, 2024, the Georgian Public Registry revoked the registration of the Conservative Movement as a valid and legal political party. The decision came after the anti-corruption bureau investigated the Conservative Movement and discovered several irregularities in the party's operation.

Leadership

The party is led by the chair. The current chairman is Giorgi Kardava.

Party chairs

• Zurab Makharadze (2021–2022)
• Giorgi Kardava (2022–present)

Political positions

During its founding congress, the members of the Conservative Movement declared as its main goals to build an alternative party to both the governing Georgian Dream and opposition United National Movement, two largest and most influential forces in the Georgian politics, establish christian democracy instead of liberal democracy in Georgia, and pursue closer relations with Russia.

The party views Georgia's socio-economic problems as relating to Georgia's strained relationship with the Russian Federation. The party maintains that the only realistic plan for Georgia to restore control over its Russian-backed breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is to normalize the relations with the Russian Federation. The party claims that Georgia would benefit from being an ally of Russia and joining the Eurasian Economic Union. In contrast, joining the European Union and NATO are unfeasible objectives because of unwillingness of NATO and EU to confront Russia because of Georgia, illustrated by their passiveness during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Moreover, according to the party, the spread of Western liberal values in Georgia is a threat to Georgian identity and nationhood. On the other hand, the Orthodox Christian Russia is a natural ally of Georgia in preservation of its Orthodox Christian identity and countering Western globalist, pervasive and liberal values.

Alt-Info has been distinguished from similar movements by its readiness to use violence in order to achieve political goals. Its leader Zura Makharadze stated that "I can and plan to defend my values, including with force [...] I am ready to act with force against this [pride parade]". According to the movement, it is justified to use violence to combat "decadent liberalism" which threatens Georgian nation.

The party claims that liberalism and democracy are contradictory and opposes liberal democracy. According to the party, Georgian democracy should be based on Orthodox Christianity which was historically pillar of the identity of Georgian people. "This involves the Christian democracy, a democracy scopes of which will be based on fundamental basis of Christian morality", according to the party.

The party's economic policy is protectionist. It supports the nationalization of natural resources and the protection of local production.

It has been seen as paralleling a rise of alt-right in the Western countries due its use of similar rhetoric.