Georgian Dream Nominates Irakli Kobakhidze as Prime Minister Candidate
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, February 2, 2024
At the Georgian Dream party congress, Irakli Gharibashvili was officially elected as the chairman of the party. He then nominated Irakli Kobakhidze as a candidate for the position of Prime Minister, and Kobakhidze's candidate received unanimous support.
Kobakhidze now needs 76 votes (a simple majority) from all 150 members of the Georgian Parliament for final approval as Prime Minister. Currently, the Georgian Dream has 84 deputies.
"I would like to symbolically ask all of you to express your support for the Prime Minister candidate, Irakli Kobakhidze," said Gharibashvili. "He has been granted full legitimacy and mandate by the Congress."
Kobakhidze expressed his gratitude to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream party, for nominating him as a candidate for the prime ministership.
"Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili serves as an example for each of us on how to dedicate oneself to the service of one's country. Over the past years, every member of our team has contributed their share of efforts to the progress of our country. However, it must be said that the fact that Georgia now enjoys democracy, peace, economic progress, and the status of a candidate for EU membership is, first and foremost, due to Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili's merit. A special thanks to the founder of the party for this!
"I would also like to thank Irakli Gharibashvili for the trust he has declared. Special thanks are extended to him for his three years of highly successful work as the Prime Minister, which brought unprecedented success to our country-thank you very much. I express gratitude to the General Secretary of the party, Kakha Kaladze, every member of the political council of the party, and all delegates of the congress," Kobakhidze said.
Kobakhidze informed the media that he had discussions within the team regarding the formation of the government, and he extended an invitation to all members of the government to remain in their positions.
According to Kobakhidze, Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze expressed a desire to step down from his post, and he will be replaced by Member of Parliament Irakli Chikovani.
