Georgian PM Kvirikashvili not planning to run for president in 2018
TBILISI. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says he does not plan to run for president in 2018.
"I am not going to run for president. We have still a lot of important things to do. The promises that we have given to the people should be kept and our team is doing all it can for that," Kvirikashvili told journalists on Saturday.
Some Georgian media reported earlier that the ruling party might nominate Kvirikashvili as its presidential candidate.
Incumbent President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said to journalists several times that he has not yet decided whether he would run for reelection in 2018. The constitutional amendments passed recently by the parliament stipulate that this would be the last time when a president is going to be elected through popular vote.
The 2024 presidential elections in Georgia would be held based on a different system, in which a president would be elected by a college of 300 specially appointed electors.
The opposition and the incumbent president see this constitutional amendment as unacceptable and violating democratic principles.