Election of a chairman of the Central Election Commission will be up to the Parliament, as opposition members of CEC refused at a meeting on January 14 to support any of the three candidates offered by President Saakashvili.

Such an outcome did not come as a surprise as on January 13 three opposition parties out of six parties having seats in the CEC and eligible to take part in voting announced that they would not support any of the proposed candidates. At least four votes were required for a candidate to be elected on the post.

As a result, voting on January 14 (representatives from Conservative and Labor Party were absent) by opposition members of the CEC was a mere formality.

Republican Party (part of Alliance for Georgia, also including New Rights and Free Democrats-Our Georgia); Labor Party and Conservative Party said on January 13 that they would not support any candidates.

And other three parties Christian-Democratic Movement; On Our Own (both part of the parliamentary minority) and Industrialists said they would not support an acting chairman Levan Tarkhnishvili’s candidacy and would decide about the two other candidates - Otar Sichinava, a judge of the Constitutional Court and Zurab Kharatishvili, a member of public broadcaster’s board of trustees - later.

But as it was already clear that their votes would not change anything, they also did not cast a ballot for any of the proposed candidates during the voting in CEC on January 14.

The Parliament, according to the law, has to elect the chairman from the three candidates no later than January 21.