President-Elect’s Inauguration to Take Place in Telavi
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, December 6
President-elect of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili confirmed her inauguration will take place in Telavi, municipality of Georgia’s winemaking region of Kakheti on December 16.
“Invitations will be sent out to foreign delegations. We invite everyone we have diplomatic relations with. Outgoing President Giorgi Margvelashvili will also be invited to the inauguration,” she said.
Kakheti Governor Irakli Kadagishvili also confirmed that the inauguration ceremony will be held in Telavi.
“Holding the inauguration in Telavi is an important decision, which emphasizes the importance of regional development in the country,” he stated.
He added the ceremony might be held on the territory of Batoni Palace fortress.
Moreover, the Administration of the Government stated that the working group will be set up under the Prime Minister’s decree, which will deal with preparation works for the inauguration.
Zourabichvili’s only opponent in the November 28 runoff, former presidential candidate of the United Opposition Grigol Vashadze says “when the country does not have the legally elected president, inauguration ceremony must not take place.”
“They can hold the inauguration anywhere they want whether in Tbilisi or in Zugdidi. We do not have any problem. Nobody is planning on to ruining this ceremony,” Vashadze said.
Member of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, Zakaria Kutsnashvilli says inauguration of the president is very important and this time the opportunity of hosting it was given to Kakheti region.
He did not specify why the organization group chose Telavi to host the inauguration ceremony.
To note, the opposition parties have scheduled a large-scale protest rally in central Tbilisi on December 16. The parties do not recognize the results of the election and call for early parliamentary elections.
