Грузия президентінің кеңсесі және өкілеттіктері

Office of the head of state of Georgia

The president of Georgia is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia as well as the commander in chief of the Defense Forces. The constitution defines the presidential office as "the guarantor of the country's unity and national independence." The president is largely a figurehead as in many parliamentary democracies. Executive power is vested in the Government and the prime minister. The office was first introduced by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia on 14 April 1991, five days after Georgia's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The president serves a five year term. The current president is Salome Zourabichvili. Because of Georgia's transition to a fully parliamentary system she is the last president to be elected directly by the citizens.

Any citizen of Georgia having the electoral right, who has attained the age of 40 and who has lived in Georgia for at least 15 years, may be elected President of Georgia. The office cannot be held by a citizen of Georgia who is simultaneously the citizen of a foreign country. The president of Georgia shall not be a member of a political party.

According to the 2018 version of Georgia's constitution, starting in 2024, the president will be elected for a five year term by the 300 member Electoral College, consisting of all members of the Parliament of Georgia and of the supreme representative bodies of the autonomous republics of Abkhazia and Adjara, also members from the representative bodies of local self governments (municipalities). The same person may be elected President of Georgia only twice. No less than 30 members of the Electoral College shall have the right to nominate a candidate for the president of Georgia. The election of the president of Georgia is appointed by the Parliament for October.

One third of the total number of the members of Parliament has the right to raise the question of impeachment of the president of Georgia. They can be considered impeached if the decision is supported by at least two thirds of the members of Parliament. The procedure of the impeachment of the president is constitutionally banned during a state of emergency or martial law.

The standard is adapted from the national flag of Georgia, charged in the center with the Georgian coat of arms. Copies of the standard are used inside the president's office, at the Chancellery Building, other state agencies, and as a car flag on vehicles bearing the president within Georgian territory.

After Georgia formally seceded from the Soviet Union on 9 April 1991, the Supreme Council voted, on 14 April, to create the post of executive president, and appointed Zviad Gamsakhurdia to the office pending the holding of direct elections. In the nationwide elections to this post, on 26 May 1991, Gamsakhurdia won a landslide victory, becoming the first president of the Republic of Georgia. Gamsakhurdia was ousted in a military coup d'état on 6 January 1992. He continued to function as a president in exile until his death in a failed attempt to regain power on 31 December 1993. In the post coup absence of legitimate power, a position of the head of state was introduced for Georgia's new leader Eduard Shevardnadze on 10 March 1992. After the adoption of a new Constitution on 24 August 1995, the post of president was restored. Shevardnadze was elected to presidency on 5 November 1995, and reelected on 9 April 2000. He resigned under pressure of mass demonstrations known as Rose Revolution on 23 November 2003. After Nino Burjanadze's brief tenure as an acting president, Mikheil Saakashvili was elected on 4 January 2004. He did not serve his full first term, but voluntarily resigned to defuse tensions in the aftermath of the 2007 Georgian demonstrations and brought the presidential elections forward from the original date in autumn 2008. He was reelected on 5 January 2008. The president's executive powers were significantly curtailed in favor of the prime minister and the Government in a series of amendments passed between 2013 and 2018. After the election of Giorgi Margvelashvili to presidency in October 2013, Georgia finalized its transition to a parliamentary republic. In November 2018, Salome Zourabichvili, became Georgia's first female president in permanent capacity and, according to the new constitution, the last president to be elected by a direct vote. In view of these changes, she is set to serve a term of six years.

In the event of the president's resignation, death or impeachment the chairperson of Parliament will temporarily serve until a new president is appointed. In its activities, the administration is guided by the Constitution of Georgia, the legislation of Georgia, the statute and other legal acts of the President of Georgia. The structure and rules of operation of the administration are determined by the President of Georgia.