Georgia will have a new president in indirect elections on December 14, the local parliament announced today, and those elections should strengthen the control of the ruling party.
This former Soviet republic on the Black Sea coast is going through a period of political turbulence.
The Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012 and accused by critics of a pro-Russian authoritarian shift, won parliamentary elections in October, but the opposition rejected the result.
As a result, the new parliament assessed that its legitimacy was shaken, both by the protesters and by the pro-Western president Salome Zourabishvili, who severed ties with the ruling party.
Parliament decided today that December 14 will be indirect presidential elections.
For the first time, the future president will be chosen by the electoral college, rather than popular vote, in accordance with a constitutional change adopted by Georgian Dream in 2017.
With such a process, there is little doubt about the victory of a loyal member of the ruling party and the departure of Salome Zurabishvili, a former French diplomat.
The parliament stated that the inauguration of the future leader will be on December 29.
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