Zurabishvili Confident that GD Will Support Her Presidential Bid

Independent presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili gave an interview with the Kviris Palitra newspaper yesterday, saying that she anticipates the ruling party, Georgian Dream, will officially endorse her campaign.

“It is difficult to imagine that the Georgian Dream will support any presidential candidate other than me or that parties other than the Georgian Dream will support me,” Zurabishvili admitted.

Last week, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia and executive secretary of the Georgian Dream political party Irakli Kobakhidze announced that his party definitely plans to back a presidential candidate in the October elections, and will decide who to support after the September 8 deadline to register as a candidate.

It has been widely assumed that Zurabishvili has the implicit support of Georgian Dream and its chairman, shadowy billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. Doubts surfaced, however, as the party continuously refused to comment on whether or not they support Zurabishvili’s presidential run. There was also speculation that Georgian Dream may nominate their own candidate, but Kobakhidze firmly rejected that idea in the beginning of August, saying the decision not to run a candidate had been made after vigorous internal party debate.

"The ongoing discussion within Georgian Dream is absolutely understandable. It is a difficult decision for a party to decline to nominate its own candidate and support another candidate. Another issue is the registration of presidential candidates, as my registration may be delayed by the Central Election Commission. We can theoretically predict this – so it is absolutely clear why Georgian Dream is mentioning the 8th of September, as it is the day by which all presidential candidates will have been named,” Zurabishvili told Kviris Palitra.

Several weeks ago, Zurabishvili was in hot water over saying that Georgia was responsible for the 2008 Georgia-August War – a statement that Georgian Dream representatives called “acceptable” to their party. Regarding her own plans, should she be elected, Zurabshvili said this week, “I can help the country in two directions - international contacts and diplomatic experience that I have had over the years. I know well how to talk to international partners.” The candidate was born and raised in Paris, France to Georgian immigrant parents. She renounced her French citizenship in order to run for president of Georgia. She added, “Of course, I'm not going to be a president of confrontation, this will not bring positive results to the country. Instead, we should try to get out of constant confrontation.”

In a mid-August campaign speech, she said, "I will be a president for all of our society but, first of all, for women. The first female president must be a president for women.”

By Samantha Guthrie

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