Ruling party, Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG), named on July 23 its majoritarian MP candidates for Samegrelo region’s seven single-mandate constituencies.

Agriculture Minister, Otar Danelia, has been nominated as the ruling party’s candidate in a constituency covering Abasha and Martvili municipalities.

Other political forces, which have so far named their candidates in the same constituency, are the Free Democrats opposition party, which has nominated Irina Topuria, and Alliance of Patriots-led election bloc, which has nominated Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, a former lawmaker and son of late president Zviad Gamsakhurdia.

Danelia will have to quit his cabinet post after he will be officially registered as a candidate by the election commission; deadline for political parties to submit to the election commission their majoritarian MP candidates expires on September 8, one month before the election day.

Chairman of local council (Sakrebulo) of Zugdidi municipality, Merab Kvaraia, will be GDDG’s majoritarian MP candidate in Zugdidi, the main town of Samegrelo region.

Free Democrats (FD) opposition party has nominated as its majoritarian candidate in the town of Zugdidi one of its leaders MP Irakli Chikovani. Other parties have yet to name their candidates in the same single-mandate constituency.

An election bloc led by Alliance of Patriots of Georgia named Otar Chitanava as its candidate in Zugdidi. He ran for Zugdidi municipality head (gamgebeli) in 2014 local elections, but garnered only 2.1% of votes.

Head (gamgebeli) of the Zugdidi municipality, Edisher Toloraia, will be GDDG’s majoritarian MP candidate in a single-mandate constituency covering the same municipality, except of the town of Zugdidi.

A majoritarian lawmaker from Khobi, Goderdzi Bukia, will run for re-election in the same single-mandate constituency as GDDG’s candidate. In previous elections, four years ago, he ran as a candidate from then ruling UNM party, which he quit shortly after the elections in which UNM was defeated.

GDDG named head of the information and analytical department of the State Security Service, Irakli Beraia, as its majoritarian candidate in Senaki, where he will compete with Free Democrats’ Khvicha Zhishkariani, former chairman of Senaki’s local council (Sakrebulo). Other parties have yet to name their candidates in the same constituency.

Head (gamgebeli) of Tsalenjikha municipality, Goga Gulordava, will be GDDG’s candidate in a single-mandate constituency covering Tsalenjikha and Chkhorotsku municipalities.

Irakli Khakhubia, a co-owner of Iceberg 2, a fish processing facility in Poti, has been nominated in this port city. GDDG MP Eka Beselia, who chairs human rights committee in the outgoing Parliament, is currently a majoritarian MP from Poti constituency.

Among other political parties, which have so far nominated their majoritarian MP candidates in Poti, are Free Democrats (FD), which has named Tengo Chakvetadze, and the State for the People, party launched by opera singer Paata Burchuladze.

The latter has nominated in Poti Kote Kemularia, who is making a political comeback after almost nine years of absence from Georgia’s political scene.

Kemularia held senior government positions in ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration before November, 2007. Kemularia served as Georgia’s ambassador to Russia for few months in 2004 before becoming Chairman of the Supreme Court in June, 2004; he was then Justice Minister from early 2005, before becoming secretary of the National Security Council in December of the same year; after being replaced in November, 2007 on the post of the National Security Council secretary, Kemularia kept low profile up until now.

UNM opposition party, which has so far nominated its majoritarian candidates in up to 30 out of 73 single-mandate constituencies, and has also unveiled its party list of MP candidates, has yet to name its candidates in Samegrelo region.

GDDG marked official launch of its election campaign on July 18 with nominating its majoritarian MP candidates in Imereti region’s eleven single-mandate constituencies.

Like in Imereti, candidates for majoritarian MPs in Samegrelo region were presented by PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who is chairman of the GDDG party, at an outdoor rally. After that he is travelling to each of the constituencies of the region to present respective candidates to locals.

Georgia has a mixed electoral system in which 73 lawmakers are elected in 73 single-member constituencies, known in Georgia as “majoritarian” mandates (a candidate has to win over 50% of votes in order to be an outright winner otherwise a second round should be held), and rest 77 seats are allocated proportionally under the party-list contest among political parties, which clear 5% threshold in nationwide popular vote.