Second, Georgian Dream must find a way to coexist with Saakashvili's UNM, which still has considerable public support. More support, in fact, than any single party within Georgian Dream.
Georgian Dream has formed a working group -- comprising former Georgian UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania, Republican Party leader Davit Usupashvili, and Georgian Dream Party official Irakli Gharibashvili -- to begin the process of pulling the coalition together.
According to Georgian Dream spokeswoman Maia Panjikidze, the process is already under way.
"Certainly, our foremost task is to name a speaker of parliament," she says. "Of course, we in our coalition already have a certain vision in this regard. And then we will name the prime minister and his cabinet. You know the name of the future prime minister, but as to who will be in his cabinet, we will announce that later. It is still a matter of consultations."
United By Antipathy
Georgian Dream has not set a deadline for these talks, and the outgoing Georgian government of lame-duck Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili continues to work until a new one is approved.
However, coalition members range from nationalists, to liberals, to market-oriented industrialists. Until now, they have been united exclusively by their antipathy toward Saakashvili and their desire to derive political advantage from Ivanishvili's vast wealth.
In particular, the fourth most-powerful party in the bloc is the right-wing nationalist People's Front, which will have a hard time finding a common language with Alasania's liberal Free Democrats or left-leaning partners such as the Green Party and the Women's Party.
Ghia Nodia, professor of politics at Ilia State University, notes that the opposition coalesced around the largely unknown political neophyte Ivanishvili.
"The mobilization of public discontent was only possible because of the financial resources of one man, whose political abilities and motives raise profound doubts," he says.
In the waning days of the hard-fought campaign, the UNM released an audio recording of a top Ivanishvili deputy disparaging a Georgian Dream candidate using the most brutal language.
Ivanishvili was compelled to issue a statement saying that the two are actually "close friends" and that, in general, members of Georgian Dream are "like friends."
Moreover, Ivanishvil still needs to resolve ongoing issues related to his citizenship.
Days after he launched Georgian Dream, in a move widely seen as politically motivated, a court stripped him of his Georgian citizenship on the grounds that he also held French and Russian passports.
Ivanishvili has since renounced his Russian citizenship and has said he will also give up his French passport as soon as his Georgian citizenship is restored. After the election, Ivanishvili said he expected this to happen.