Georgia will hold uncontested presidential elections

Presidential elections will be held in Georgia on Saturday, for the first time they will be held not by direct vote, but in the electoral college.

The only presidential candidate is Mikhail Kavelashvili, a member of parliament from the ruling Georgian Dream party.

According to the Central Election Commission of Georgia, which will hold elections in the Parliament building, 300 members are represented in the electoral college, of which 150 are members of Parliament, the remaining 150 are members of the Supreme Councils of Adjara and Abkhazia and representatives of local governments.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told reporters on Friday that the ruling Georgian Dream party has 211 members in the electoral college, which means that Kavelashvili will be elected president unhindered, since 200 electoral votes are needed for the procedure.

Opposition parties do not participate in the elections of the new president of Georgia, considering the parliament elected in October illegitimate and demanding the appointment of new parliamentary elections. Protests have been taking place daily in Tbilisi since November 28.

The current President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, said yesterday that she considers the presidential elections scheduled for Saturday illegitimate and does not intend to resign from her post until new parliamentary elections are scheduled.

In the recent history of Georgia, five presidents have been elected since 1991 — Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze, Mikhail Saakashvili, Giorgi Margvelashvili and Salome Zurabishvili.

The election of the sixth president will begin at 9.00 and end at 14.00, Interfax clarifies.