14 Candidates Run for Tbilisi Mayor

All 14 persons, who have applied to run for a mayoral office of the capital city Tbilisi in the June 15 local elections, have been registered as candidates by the Central Election Commission.

A candidate has to win more than 50% of votes in the first round to be declared an outright winner of the race without requiring a runoff.

Below is the list of Tbilisi mayoral candidates:

• Davit Narmania, ex-minister of infrastructure, nominated by the Georgian Dream ruling coalition;
• Nika Melia,  nominated by the opposition United National Movement party; he serves as head of Tbilisi’s Mtatsminda district and chaired the National Bureau of Enforcement before the 2012 parliamentary elections;
• Dimitri Lortkipanidze, named by a coalition of CDM and Nino Burjanadze’s DMUG party;
• Kakha Kukava, named by an election bloc of New Rights and Free Georgia parties;
• MP Giorgi Gachechiladze, leader of the Green Party of Georgia; he quit the GD parliamentary majority in February;
• Asmat Tkabladze, an actress, who was named by the Labor Party;
• Irma Inashvili, who runs media outlet Obieqtivi, was nominated by Alliance of Patriots of Georgia;
• Teimuraz Murvanidze, a set designer nominated by ex-foreign minister Salome Zourabichvili’s party Georgia’s Way;
• Sergo Javakhidze, nominated by Self-Governance for the People, an election bloc of two small parties, who received 0.13% of votes in the 2013 presidential election;
• Irakli Glonti of the Reformers party;
• Mikheil Saluashvili, nominated by In the Name of the Lord- the Lord is Our Truth, who received 0.08% of votes in the 2013 presidential election;
• Giorgi Liluashvili, nominated by Merab Kostava Society, who received 0.12% in the 2013 presidential election;
• Giorgi Lagidze of Future Georgia party, who was running for Tbilisi mayoral race in 2010 and received 0.14% of votes;
• Roin Liparteliani, nominated by the Council of Georgian Workers

June 5 is deadline for a mayoral candidate to withdraw from the race; if a candidate decides to declare about pulling out from the race after this deadline, his or her name will still appear on ballot papers on the election day.