Georgia likely to hold presidential election in January, PM

The Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, speaking on the sidelines of a climate change conference in Baku, announced on Wednesday that the country is likely to hold its next presidential election in January.

This election would be Georgia’s first under the new system, where a 300-member electoral college, composed of members of parliament, local representatives, and officials from Abkhazia and Adjara Autonomous Republics, will choose the nation’s sixth president.
Kobakhidze expressed confidence in the country’s political stability following the recent general elections. “Everything is quiet,” he claimed.

“The results will be summarized, and the parliamentary session will convene on the tenth day, marking the start of parliamentary life.”

The PM further dismissed recent actions by opposition parties, who have questioned the legitimacy of newly elected members and called on the Central Election Commission (CEC) not to recognize their mandates. The PM criticized these efforts as “brewing a storm in a teacup,” adding that such appeals “lack legal merit and have no place in Georgia’s political process”.

This election will mark the end of the current president, Salome Zourabichvili’s term. Zourabichvili, an independent candidate backed by the Georgian Dream party, was the last president elected by direct popular vote in 2018.