Ruling party presents 22 delegates to run election campaign in regions

The ruling Georgian Dream party has introduced 22 delegates to run the election campaign in various regions of the country, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze revealing the news on Thursday.

All delegates will be represented in selected positions on the proportional list of the ruling party, with Kobakhidze saying the party would “ensure that every city and region will have a representative in the Parliament of the next convocation and partially eliminate the shortcoming which is associated with the abolition of the majoritarian system”.

He also said most of the deputies who had been on single-seat votes of respective constituencies would also be on the list, but not as delegates. Eight delegates for capital Tbilisi will be named in the next few days.

The head of the ruling party also pointed out that abolition of the single-seat system had “serious disadvantages”, reflected in a “weakening of the connection between voters and candidates”, with the delegate system introduced to “mitigate” the issue.

[D]elegates are candidates represented in the proportional electoral list of the party who will be responsible for campaigns in specific electoral districts and after the elections, accountable for protecting the interests of the respective voters in the Parliament of Georgia”, Kobakhidze said.

The parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 26, will be held with a fully proportional system.