Georgian government steps down as PM Bakhtadze announces resignation

Mamuka Bakhtadze has resigned as Georgian prime minister, meaning that the former Soviet republic will have to appoint a new head of government and cabinet ministers amid a lingering political crisis.

Bakhtadze, who was appointed prime minister last June, announced his resignation on social media, saying that the purpose of his nomination was to boost the “strategic development” of his country.

“I have therefore decided to resign because I believe that I have fulfilled my mission at this stage,” he explained.

Wishing his successors well, the outgoing prime minister said that Georgia “needs complete consolidation” in the wake of the 2020 parliamentary elections.

The 37-year-old politician served as Georgian Railways CEO and finance minister before being propelled to the top government job. His government, a coalition comprised of the pro-business, centrist Georgian Dream and Democratic Georgia, has also stepped down. It is set to name a new prime minister and cabinet later today.

Georgia returned to international headlines this June, when opposition lawmakers protested against a visiting Russian delegation, a member of which was to address an Orthodoxy-themed event, hosted in the parliament building, and did so from the speaker’s chair.

The outrage at the Russian visitor’s use of that particular chair quickly mushroomed into a broader nationalistic sentiment, with hundreds of people taking part in anti-Russian and anti-government protests in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.

The crowds clashed with police and tried to storm the parliament’s building, shaking the tiny Caucasian country of 3.7 million.

The Kremlin labeled the clashes as “a Russophobic provocation,” and responded by banning Russian airlines from flying to Georgia, citing safety concerns. Flights by Georgian airlines to Russia were later suspended as well.

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