Expert: Bidzina Ivanishvili Should Run for President

Political expert Gia Khukhashvili believes that the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, and former Prime Minister of Georgia, tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili should run in the presidential elections to be held in October, 2018.

“Ivanishvili should run for President. His presidency can restore institutional order in the country,” Khukhashvili said while commenting on the recent internal confrontation between the parliamentary majority members.

He believes the recent developments in the parliamentary majority resemble a situation in school "when the teacher leaves the class in the middle of the lesson."

“If the teacher does not return to the classroom, there will be a bad situation. The teacher should feel the responsibility. It is an objective necessity for him to return to the politics,” Khukhashvili said . 

The disagreement in the ruling party started in early April, when Parliament voted for two Georgian Public Broadcaster members of the board of trustees, among them a critic of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ninia Kakabadze, presented by the parliamentary minority. During the vote, some GD members also supported her and in the end, Kakabadze’s candidacy was approved.

GD MP Gedevan Popkhadze slammed his teammates for supporting an “anti-church” candidate and said he was leaving the party, which was followed by some harsh comments from the Parliament Speaker, Irakli Kobakhidze, who accused Popkhadze of “betraying” the party.

After this, some GD parliamentarians took the side of Popkhadze and criticized Kobakhidze, while the Speaker also gained some supporters, who stated some MPs had “made grave mistakes.”

At present, the majority seems to be split into two groups, however, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili clams there are no groups within the majority.

By Thea Morrison

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