Former CEC chairman to join presidential race in Georgia
By Nazrin Gadimova
Former Chairman of the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) Zurab Kharatishvili has applied for registration as a presidential candidate from the two political parties - the European Democrats and the National Democratic Party, the CEC reported on September 1.
Leader of the European Democrats, Former Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Paata Davitaya said on August 30 that they decided to support Kharatishvili because he was the first chairman of the Central Election Commission, who for the first time in Georgia managed to transfer power from one political force to the other peacefully through elections.
In turn, Kharatishvili said he intends to create a new political center, which will focus on European democracy.
Number of candidates for presidency who appealed to the Georgian Central Election Commission for registration has reached 45, while four of them have been denied in registration.
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 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.
Moreover, Georgia's former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili will apply for registration as a presidential candidate on September 2. 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 Zourabichvili, who is a citizen of Georgia and France, to participate in the presidential elections.
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.