Georgian president to make decision on depriving Saakashvili of citizenship within few days - official
TBILISI. Dec 3 (Interfax) - Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili will make a decision on whether to deprive former President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgian citizenship within the next few days, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze, parliamentary secretary of the Georgian president, told journalists on Thursday.
"The presidential secretariat received the Justice Ministry's conclusion regarding the deprivation of Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgian citizenship today. Our law stipulates that an individual who has acquired citizenship of another country shall be automatically deprived of Georgian citizenship," Kverenchkhiladze said.
At the same time, the constitution and other laws entitle any individual who has lost Georgian citizenship to appeal to the president to be granted dual citizenship, he said.
It was reported earlier that the Justice Ministry had forwarded a recommendation to President Margvelashvili that Saakashvili, currently the head of the Odesa regional administration in Ukraine, be deprived of Georgian citizenship.
Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani told journalists on Thursday that the ministry's conclusion on the matter had been passed to the presidential secretariat earlier in the day.
Saakashvili himself said in a video address posted on Facebook that he believed the Georgian authorities were seeking to strip him of citizenship in order to bar him from running in elections in his home country.
