Presidential Election Date Changed Back to October 27

Civil Georgia

Presidential election date has been changed again and set for October 27 (Sunday) as it was initially announced before being changed to October 31 (Thursday), according to chief of president’s administration Andro Barnovi.

The announcement came after Barnovi met a group of civil society representatives, who earlier on July 3 called on President Saakashvili to change election date which would fall on Sunday to help higher voter turnout including among Georgians living abroad.

After he was called to change the date, President Saakashvili said that he was not “fixated” on any particular date and added that he instructed his chief of administration to meet with representatives of the non-governmental organizations.

“After a meeting [with civil society representatives], I spoke with the President… and the elections will be set for October 27, Sunday and it will be formally finalized today or tomorrow,” Barnovi said.

According to the constitution presidential elections should be held in October, 2013. It’s up to the incumbent President to set an exact date.

On July 1 President’s office initially announced October 27 (Sunday) as the presidential election date, but few hours later changed it into October 31, citing “a technical mistake” and now the date was changed back to October 27.