President Speaks in Favor of Elected Mayors

During his ?state of the nation? address today, President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke of the need to strengthen self-government.

He also spoke in favor of elected mayors. The President said he is not capable of ?appoint[ing] all the officials in the region from the center.?

?Mayors of all cities should be elected starting next year,? he said.

Saakashvili did not specify, though, whether elections should be direct or the mayors should be elected by members of elected councils. Earlier, Saakashvili’s party members suggested indirect elections for the two major cities that maintain appointed mayors – Tbilisi and Poti.