Tbilisi, Nov 29: Georgia's parliament extended until Monday the deadline for candidates enter the race for January's presidential election, which will replace ousted president Eduard Shevardnadze. The deadline had already expired Wednesday, but the parliament decided unanimously to extend it by five days.
So far, five people have registered as candidates, including Mikhail Saakashvili, the 35-year-old US-educated lawyer who galvanized thousands of protesters to take the streets in the country's ‘Rose Revolution’ and who is widely favored to win the January 04 election.
The only other prominent candidate in the running is Igor Georgadze, a former national security minister who was accused of organizing a coup against Shevardnadze in 1995 and had fled the country. Other candidates are Kartlos Garibashvili, Zurab Kelekhsashvili and Roin Lipartyliani.
Former parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, whose Democrats party joined forces with Saakashvili to prompt Shevardnadze's peaceful overthrow, is now acting as interim president.
Bureau Report