Georgia to hold presidential elections within 45 days Protests in Tbilisi Continue

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia is ready to administer the presidential elections to be held within 45 days, said CEC Chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili.  

Salome Zourabichvili is the last president of Georgia elected by direct vote, Caliber.Az reports, citing Georgian media.

The next president will be chosen by a 300-member electoral college, which will include members of the Georgian Parliament, members of the Supreme Councils of the Adjara and Abkhaz Autonomous Republics, as well as representatives of local governments.

“We express our full readiness to ensure administration both legally and procedurally. We will wait for the parliament's decision,” Kalandarishvili said. 

He emphasized the fact that this time the president will be chosen by the electoral college.

Meanwhile, amidst ongoing opposition protests in Tbilisi, on November 26, the Georgian parliament extended the yellow security level limiting the entrance for visitors.

On November 25, the parliament introduced a yellow security level for the day, when the meeting of the first session of the parliament of the new convocation was held, accompanied by an opposition protest. This restriction for visitors means that only accredited journalists and persons invited by structural units, in addition to MPs and parliamentary staff, can enter the building. 

The purpose of the restrictive measures is to ensure a “working and safe environment” in the parliament building.

The opposition held a night protest outside the Georgian Parliament from the evening of November 24, setting up tents on Rustaveli Avenue. In the morning, law enforcers blocked passageways on both sides of the parliament to prevent protesters from preventing MPs from entering the building.

Despite the large number of law enforcers and the close proximity of citizens to the police cordons, there were no clashes with the protesters. In the afternoon, after the new parliament approved its credentials, protesters began hitting the iron fence at the front of the parliament with various objects. In the evening, when the deputies had already left the parliament building, the action ended. 

According to the Constitution, presidential elections are held after the expiration of the term of office in October, while if the election date falls in the month of parliamentary elections or the previous month, presidential elections are held within 45 days after the first sitting of the newly elected legislature.

Parliamentary elections were held on October 26 and the first session was held on November 25.

Opposition activists, the Georgian President and non-governmental organizations supporting them declared total falsification of the elections and demanded annulment of their results. They also demanded an international investigation into the matter and new elections.

Since November 24 evening, a protest has been held in front of the Georgian parliament. The protesters accuse the authorities of stealing votes.

Although the opposition has declared that it does not intend to work in the “illegitimate parliament”, it has not yet addressed the legislative body with official statements on the refusal of mandates.

By Khagan Isayev