Georgia’s acting PM says “people give legitimacy” to constitutional bodies, officials

Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgia’s acting Prime Minister, on Wednesday said the legitimacy to constitutional bodies and officials was granted by the country’s citizens, emphasising this applied to the country’s Parliament and the Government, and would be the same case with the President as well.

In his interview with the Imedi TV programme, Kobakhidze noted the country’s President would be indirectly elected by an electoral college based on public legitimacy, a method that was applied in the United States and Germany, adding a “similar rule” of election was used in “many parliamentary republics”.

In Germany, there is also a [electoral] college consisting of members of Parliament, representatives of the states [of Germany], representatives of the subjects of the federation, they have a specific mandate given by the people, and based on this mandate they elect the President”, he said.

In 2024, the parliamentary elections, [and] elections of the Supreme Council of Adjara [in the country’s west] were held [last month], the [Georgian] people assigned specific mandates, quotas to particular political entities, parties in the college, and similarly in 2021 when local self-government elections were conducted, the people also assigned a mandate to particular parties to elect the President of Georgia”, he added.

The acting PM also noted the 300-member electoral college would be formed on this basis, which would involve 20 members from the Supreme Council of the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, with the college indirectly electing the President that was a method “fully compatible” with international practice.