CEC registers Burjanadze as presidential candidate
By Nazrin Gadimova
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia registered Former Speaker, Leader of the Democratic Movement - United Georgia Nino Burjanadze as the presidential candidate.
She became the seventh registered candidate for the presidency.
Earlier, Burjanadze's representatives submitted 80,000 signatures of her supporters to the CEC.
Meanwhile, Georgian Former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili decided to try once again to register as a presidential candidate and applied to the CEC.
Earlier, the commission has refused Zourabichvili in registration because of her dual citizenship. She applied to the Tbilisi city court over the issue. However, the court found the decision of the CEC legitimate and upheld it.
Georgian CEC has officially registered Labour Party leader Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the For a Fair Georgia Party Sergo Javakhidze, Giorgi Margvelashvili from Georgian Dream-United Georgia were registered as candidates on Sept.11. Also, Nestan Kirtadze, Giorgi Liluashvili and Mikheil Saluashvili --candidates nominated by initiative groups.
Around 54 applications were officially submitted for participation in the election. Political parties nominated 12 candidates, the other candidates are proposed by initiative groups. The deadline for registration of the presidential candidates is September 17. All the candidates should present 26,350 signatures of their supporters until that time.
According to experts, the main rivalry at the polls will be between Giorgi Margvelashvili, Nino Burjanadze and Davit Bakradze.
This will be the 6th presidential election after the republic'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.