According to Georgian government media outlet Imedi, the current chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, is set to be nominated for the position of the country’s prime minister. Simultaneously, the incumbent Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, will assume the role of party chairman. Additionally, Irakli Kobakhidze will be appointed as the party’s political secretary.
As per Imedi’s report, during the political council meeting of the Georgian Dream on January 24, it was determined that the party congress will convene on February 1.
Irakli Garibashvili has held the position of head of government twice. Initially appointed as the Prime Minister of Georgia in 2013, he unexpectedly resigned from the post in 2015.
Subsequently, on February 18, 2021, he was reappointed to the same position following the resignation of the then-Prime Minister, Giorgi Gakharia. During the interim period, Garibashvili also served as the general secretary of the Georgian Dream party and as the defense minister.
Experts have been discussing anticipated changes in the government following the reentry into politics of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream and an influential oligarch.
Ivanishvili initially assumed the role of prime minister in Georgia after the Georgian Dream’s victory in the 2012 parliamentary elections but stepped down in November 2013. He returned to political activity in 2018, taking on the position of the party’s chairman. In the same year, Georgia conducted presidential elections. In 2021, Ivanishvili once again declared his retirement from politics.
Despite his public withdrawals, opposition figures and the civil sector in Georgia assert that Ivanishvili continued to exert political influence, orchestrating crucial decisions within the country from behind the scenes.
The year 2024 is significant as Georgia is poised to hold crucial parliamentary elections.
