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
