The Armenian community of Georgia has not yet got any much-fancied candidate among the 23 candidates for Georgian president, Shirak Torosyan, MP from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, Chairman of Javakhq Union, said at a press conference in Yerevan on Thursday.
"During the election campaign none of the candidates gave any promises concerning the issues in the focus of attention of national minorities, particularly, the Armenian community. 4 candidates visited Javakhq and touched on various topics such as the future of Georgia, socio-economic development of the country, etc.", he stressed. Meanwhile, issues concerning the language, education and religion were not raised.
Torosyan thinks that the Armenian community will express a joint stance with due regard for the political past of the candidates and the political teams they belong to. "David Bakradze has few chances to obtain the votes of the Armenian community, because he is a member of the incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili's team. It was during Saakashvili's presidency that Armenians underwent large-scale persecutions. Giorgi Margvelashvili, a candidate from Georgian Dream, has more chances to obtain the Armenian community's votes", said Torosyan. He added that the incumbent Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili gave a lot of promises and the candidate from his team will conduct reforms if elected.
The presidential election in Georgia is scheduled for 27 October 2013. According to the Constitution, President Mikheil Saakashvili cannot run for the third term. The presidential election will be followed by a transition to a parliamentary system of governance. Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he would leave his post by 2014. He pointed out that he would do that as soon as Saakashvili stops threatening the Government.