Georgian PM claims President “directly involved in campaigning” ahead of elections

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday claimed President Salome Zourabichvili was “directly involved in the campaigning” on behalf of the opposition ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26, calling the development a “violation of the Constitution”.

Kobakhidze made the allegation in reference to Article 51 of the constitution, which stipulates that the President of Georgia shall not be a member of a political party, and said Zourabichvili had “not been the President for a long time” but already “violating various provisions of the Constitution step by step”.

According to the Constitution, the President must be non-partisan. This means, among other things, that the President should not interfere in electoral processes. This is, of course, a gross violation of electoral principles, although we have not yet heard any critical statements in this regard, which, of course, indicate the bias of individual observers”, the PM said.

He also reviewed a possible unification of Lelo and Gakharia for Georgia opposition parties by recalling the way the two leaders had “slammed and insulted each other” in the past.

Kobakhidze alleged the “only reason for the unification” was that both parties were “finding it difficult to cross the five percent electoral threshold” ahead of the vote.