Four Candidates Eye Tbilisi Mayoral Post

With local self-governance elections a month away, so far four politicians have entered the race for the position of Tbilisi Mayor.

The fifth possible candidate – influential financial and media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili – is still mulling over whether or not it is worth it to run in the October 5 elections.

On September 5 MP Koba Davitashvili, leader of the Conservative Party, announced his intention to quit the Parliament and to run in the Tbilisi mayoral race. According to the law an acting MP cannot run in local elections.

Davitashvili will have to compete with ex-Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili, who leads the Georgia’s Way opposition party; beer magnate Gogi Topadze, nominated by the Industrialist opposition party; and incumbent Mayor Gigi Ugulava, the candidate from the ruling National Movement party.

The Conservative Party will run in the local elections in a collation with the Republican Party, with MP Davitashvili running as the joint mayoral candidate. Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party announced she has ambitions to become Chairperson of the Tbilisi City Council.
 
According to the law, the Tbilisi Mayor is elected by the 37-member Tbilisi City Council – the Sakrebulo – where 25 members will be elected through a first-past-the-post, “winner takes all” majoritarian system in Tbilisi’s ten constituencies. Five out of ten elections districts in Tbilisi will be three-mandate constituencies and other five – two-mandate constituencies. The remaining 12 seats in the Sakrebulo will be distributed through a so called “compensatory list” from among parties that garner at least 4% of votes in all ten constituencies of the capital city.

Koba Davitashvili said that he plans to run for Sakrebulo membership in Gldani’s [district in Tbilisi] three-mandate constituency. Khidasheli will be nominated in the Isani’s [district in Tbilisi] three-mandate constituency.

Other candidates have not yet announced in which constituency they plan to run.

Koba Davitashvili’s move to quit Parliament was a risky decision because if he loses in the October 5 elections the opposition will have one less MP in the legislative body.

“Of course this is a risky decision, but I think this risk is justified,” MP Zviad Dzidziguri of the Conservative Party said.

“His [Davitashvili’s] chances to succeed are equal to zero,” MP Giga Bokeria of the ruling National Movement told reporters on September 5.

Meanwhile, the opposition New Rights party continues its efforts to convince tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili to run for Tbilisi Mayor. New Rights wants the influential tycoon, who returned from London on September 3, to represent its party in the election.

Patarkatsishvili, who is currently holding consultations with the New Rights, told his television station Imedi that running in the elections “is not a goal in itself.”

“Georgia’s welfare and unification is my goal. I will do everything to achieve this goal and if this goal requires me to run in any kind of election, I will not step back,” Patarkatsishvili said.

Earlier on September 5 MP Mamuka Katsitadze of the New Rights party said that Patarkatsishvili is currently studying all the elections-related details before making a final decision of whether or not he will run.

If the party fails to convince Patarkatsishvili to run for mayor an election boycott has not been ruled out by the New Rights.