Presidential race continues

All of Georgia's pressidential candidates must be registered by September 17. Those who have registered can be reasonably divided into several groups: those who are legitimate players, those who are seeking profit and those who have no real chance at winning the election... Initially 54 people expressed their interest in becoming president of Georgia.

Among the interested parties was certain Avtandil Ioseliani,who does not hold Georgian citizenship. Salome Zourabichvili’s registration request was rejected, as the law forbids those with dual citizenship from running for high office. However, Zourabichvili sued the Central Election Commission (CEC) regarding this matter. She did not want to give up her French citizenship before the elections.

There are also candidates within the pool who know beforehand that they have no chance at all of winning, but still participate in the presidential race for the sake of participation.

Now the CEC is checking the lists of supporters and if each candidate has enough valid supporters to satisfy CEC requirements, the candidate will run in the competition.

Almost all the analysts are unanimous in that there are three people who can be considered front-runners in the game. These are Giorgi Margvelashvili form the Georgian Dream coalition, Nino Burjanadze the former Parliamentary Chaiperson and the United National Movement (UNM) representative, Davit Bakradze.

The government, which expresses the utmost confidence in Margvelashvili’s victory in the first round of the race, even selected November 17 as the date for his inauguration. However, some analysts have doubts that Margvelashvili will win in the first round, because the rating of the Georgian Dream has decreased as of late. Moreover, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s statement about his resignation also negatively affects Margvelashvili’s chances.

Next is Nino Burjanadze. Her major platform is the restoration of justice, and the severe punishment of the guilty representatives of the UNM. The public loves shows and many are keen on watching the prosecution of the UNM officials which Burjanadze promises. However, her opponents constantly remind her of the “sins” she committed while being among the Rose Administration leaders.

The third candidate who can be named in this list is Davit Bakradze. Analysts suggest that Margvelashvili will come first followed by Burjanadze then Bakradze and then most probably, a second round would be required.

As for the rest of the candidates, they have little or no chance at defeating the three major players mentioned above.