Number of presidential hopefuls reaches 39 in Georgia
By Nazrin Gadimova
Number of candidates for presidency who appealed to the Georgian Central Election Commission for registration has reached 39, the Central Election Commission (CEC) reported on August 26.
According to the commission, representatives of the Democratic Movement - United Georgia appealed to the Georgian CEC for registration of ex-speaker of the Georgian parliament Nino Burjanadze as the candidate in the upcoming presidential election on August 26.
Representative of the Democratic Movement Gia Kobakhidze said they are confident in the victory of their candidate.
"Burjanadze is very popular among the Georgians, therefore she should win the presidential election," he underscored.
Moreover, Georgia's former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili will arrive in Georgia for registration as a presidential candidate. However, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Davit Usupashvili said that he could not guarantee Former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili's joining the presidential elections. Usupashvili emphasized that the law prohibits individuals with dual citizenship, as Zurabishvili, who is a citizen of Georgia and France, to participate in the presidential elections.
In turn, Zourabichvili said she was ready to renounce dual citizenship, if she wins the presidential election.
To be registered, the candidate must collect at least 26,530 signatures (0.75 percent of the total number of voters). The deadline for submitting signatures is September 17, and the date when the recent changes to them can be made is September 22.
Ruling Georgian Dream coalition's representative Giorgi Margvelashvili, former ruling United National Movement's candidate Davit Bakradze, Labour Party's candidate Shalva Natelashvili, Christian-Democratic Movement's representative Giorgi Targamadze and others have already applied for registration in the Central Election Commission.
According to the CEC, there are 3,5 million voters in Georgia.
The 2013 presidential election in Georgia is scheduled for October. This will be the 6th presidential election after the country's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The last one, held on January 5, 2008, resulted in the election of Mikheil Saakashvili for his second and final presidential term. According to the constitution, Saakashvili cannot run for a third consecutive term.
Upon the inauguration of a new president in 2013, a series of constitutional amendments passed in the parliament of Georgia from 2010 to 2013 will go into effect. The amendments envisage significant reduction of the President's powers in favor of the Prime Minister.