Georgia prepares to elect new president in its last direct elections

Over 3.5 million Georgian citizens will be able to cast their ballot at 3,637 polling stations throughout the country in its last direct presidential elections on Sunday.

Besides, 55 polling stations will be opened in 39 states worldwide. However, Georgians living in Russia will not be able to cast their ballot as the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 2008.

The winner of the October 28 elections will be the last president chosen as a result of a direct popular vote. In line with constitutional amendments, adopted in March, direct presidential elections will be scrapped since 2024. Instead, the president will be chosen by a board of 300 delegates - 150 deputies and 150 representatives of local administration.

Besides, the president elected in Sunday’s polls will serve a term of six years instead of five - the regular five-year term will be extended only once to enable the political transition. Starting from 2024, the country's presidents will hold their post for five years again.

In line with the constitutional amendments that were adopted in 2010 and entered force between 2012 and 2013, the president’s powers were significantly reduced, and those of the prime minister and the parliament were expanded. However, the president still remains the formal head of state and the commander-in-chief.

In line with the law, the presidential campaign officially began two months before the vote, on August 29, 2018.

The Georgian Central Election Commission registered 25 candidates for the upcoming polls, including 19 nominated by political parties and six independent candidates. Experts and surveys name Salome Zurabishvili, Grigol Vashadze and David Bakradze as the frontrunners.

Zurabishvili was born and grew up in France, in a family of Georgian political immigrants and served as the Georgian foreign minister in 2004-2006. She is running in the polls as an independent candidate supported by the ruling Georigan Dream party.

Vashadze represents a former ruling party, the United National Movement (UNM), which unites supporters of exiled Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili. He also represents UNM’s ten allied parties.

Bakradze is the candidate nominated by the European Georgia opposition party.

Besides, experts name Labor party leader Shalva Natelashvili and former parliament speaker and the founder of the opposition Movement for Construction David Usupashvili as prominent contenders.

The Georgian law establishes no turnout threshold, and the elections will be declared valid no matter how many citizens actually cast their ballot. If none of the candidates fails to secure the absolute majority in the first round, a runoff will be held for two candidates who received the biggest number of votes.

The October 28 elections will be monitored by over 22,000 observers from 62 domestic organizations and over 1,1000 monitors from 58 international bodies, including the European Parliament, the OSCE and NATO parliamentary assemblies and many others.

The early results are due to be announced early on October 29. The final results must be made public no later than 20 days after the vote.