The 11th Convocation of the Parliament unanimously approved the Decree on Scheduling the Next Presidential Election in Georgia.

The draft decree, titled "On Scheduling the Regular Presidential Election of Georgia", was adopted unanimously with 80 votes.

The draft was presented to the Members of Parliament by the Speaker, H.E. Shalva Papuashvili.

"According to Article 50, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution of Georgia, the President is elected for a five-year term. In 2017, as part of the constitutional reform, the procedure for electing the President was amended. The President is now elected by a 300-member electoral college. Under the transitional provisions of the Constitution, the President elected in 2018 serves a six-year term", - Shalva Papuashvili stated.

The Speaker explained that the current President took the oath of office on December 16, 2018. Consequently, her six-year term will expire on December 16, 2024.

"In accordance with Paragraph 5 of Article 50 of the Constitution, if the Presidential election coincides with Parliamentary elections or if Parliamentary elections are held one month earlier, the Presidential election must take place within a maximum of 45 days. The President must be elected for a five-year term, making it essential to conduct both the election and inauguration in 2024. This ensures that the President’s term does not extend beyond the constitutional five years. Otherwise, if the election and inauguration were postponed to 2025, the President would effectively serve a six-year term, as the next election would then fall in October 2030. This would contradict the constitutional principle of a five-year term for the presidency", - Sh. Papuashvili emphasized.

According to Paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 50 of the Georgian Constitution, Article 95, Paragraph 2 of the Election Code of Georgia, and Paragraph 5 of Article 194^1 of the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure, the Parliament of Georgia has determined that the next Presidential election will be held on December 14, 2024. The inauguration ceremony is scheduled for December 29, 2024.

"The President will be elected by an electoral college composed of 300 members. Of these, 150 are sitting Members of Parliament, 21 are from the Supreme Council of Adjara, 20 are from the Supreme Council of Abkhazia, and the remaining 109 members will be selected from municipal council representatives in proportion to and in accordance with the results of the 2021 local self-government elections. This college will convene in the Parliament of Georgia on December 14, 2024, to elect the President. The election will be organized by the Central Election Commission (CEC), which must soon convene to establish procedures and timelines, as well as form the electoral college", - Sh. Papuashvili explained.

He noted that for a candidate to win in the first round, they must secure two-thirds of the votes from the electoral college members. If no candidate achieves this threshold, a second round will be held. If necessary, the second round will take place on the same day as the first.

"The law also specifies the timing of the election. The Presidential election in Georgia will be held on December 14, 2024, starting at 9:00 AM", - Sh. Papuashvili concluded.