Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Head of the UNDP's election projects Tamar Zhvania was elected as a Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Georgia.

Earlier, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili presented three candidates for this post. CEC members unanimously voted for Zhvania.

Georgia's Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili expressed confidence that the new chairman of the CEC will use her experience to conduct presidential elections, which is scheduled for October, in a free and democratic environment.

In turn, Tamar Zhvania said that she intends to hold the best presidential election in the history of the country.

"I want to say to our voters that we will be as transparent as possible, we will obey the law, we will be professional in our business and, of course, equitable, to gain the trust of voters and make presidential elections will be the best in Georgia," Zhvania said.

Before her election as the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Tamar Zhvania led the UNDP's election projects. In 2004-2007, she was the director of a non-governmental organization International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy. Zhvania has nearly 13 years of experience in electoral matters, both locally and at the level of international electoral missions.

Former Chairman of the Georgian CEC Zurab Kharatishvili has left his position before the presidential elections on August 12. Kharatishvili's office term automatically suspended on August 29. He intended to run for presidency in the upcoming October elections and was keen to create a new political center, which would focus on European democracy.

The October presidential election in Georgia will be the 6th 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.