Adjaran Gov’t has new head
By Messenger Staff
Monday, July 18
At the end of the last week, the legislative body of Georgia’s coastal Adjara Autonomous Republic approved the President’s nominee for the region’s head of government.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s candidate for the post, Georgia’s former Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zurab Pataradze, gained the support of 12 deputies in the Adjara Supreme Council, the body eligible to approve the region’s leader and ministers.
Nine deputies out of the 21-seat legislative body did not participate in the voting, but Pataradze only needed eleven votes to be approved.
Margvelashvili announced Pataradze’s candidacy on Thursday last week - a day before voting - as the post became vacant after the recent resignation of Archil Khabadze, who named his participating in the upcoming October 8 parliamentary elections as the reason behind his decision.
Before presenting Pataradze as his chosen candidate, Margvelashvili said he had consulted with the Adjara Autonomous Government and its Ministers, and announced he was in active talks with the Adjara Supreme Council over the suitability of his nominee.
The Adjaran Government, which is an executive body, is responsible to the Council and the President of Georgia.
Elections for the Adjara Supreme Council are scheduled for October 8 – the same day as Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections – wherein locals of the Autonomous Republic will elect their lawmakers.
