"Presidential elections" begin in Georgia's parliament, people gather for protests outside – photos, videos
www.pravda.com.ua
Sat, 14 Dec 2024 08:42:51 +0200
The Georgian parliament has begun the procedure for presidential elections, which, for the first time, will be held through the Electoral College, a system that both the current president and the opposition consider illegitimate.
Source Ekho Kavkaza Echo of the Caucasus, a Radio Liberty regional project European Pravda Details The process for the presidential elections has begun in the parliament building.
For the first time, the election will not be held through direct popular voting but through an Electoral College.
The only nominated candidate is Mikhail Kavelashvili, an antiWestern former footballer who represents the Peoples Power party, formally separate from the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The Electoral College includes 150 Georgian parliament members, 21 representatives from the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, 20 representatives from the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and 109 members of local government councils sakrebulo.
Despite the opposition boycotting the parliaments work, the Electoral College officially includes 61 lawmakers from opposition parties, although they will not participate in the vote.
At least two members of the Abkhazian Council will not vote. The local government representatives quota, which the opposition did not use, has been filled by representatives of Georgian Dream.
Overall, the ruling party has 211 representatives in the Electoral College, which is officially enough to conduct the vote and elect the president.
ProEuropean protesters are gathering outside the parliament building.
Numerous protests involving various sectors and professions took place in the capital on Friday, 13 December. Background A poll by the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences IPM showed that 65 of Georgian society supports antigovernment protests.
President Salome Zourabichvili and the opposition have declared that they will not recognise the legitimacy of the procedure.
Zourabichvili refuses to step down from the presidency.
Meanwhile, Western countries and Ukraine will have to decide whether to recognise the new government of Georgia as legitimate.
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