Prime Minister of Georgia

The prime minister of Georgia (Template:Lang-ka) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia.

In Georgia, the president is a ceremonial head of state and mainly acts as a figurehead. The executive power is vested in the government. The prime minister organizes, directs, and controls the functions of the government. They also sign legal acts and appoint and dismiss cabinet ministers. The prime minister represents Georgia in foreign relations and concludes international treaties on behalf of Georgia. They are accountable for the activities of the government before the Parliament of Georgia.<ref name="con55">Template:Cite constitution</ref>

The prime minister is nominated by a political party that has secured the best results in the parliamentary election. The nominee must win the confidence vote of the Parliament.

The current prime minister is Irakli Kobakhidze, who was nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party on 2 February and his government was approved on 8 February, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:TOC limit

History

The office of prime minister under the name of the chairman of government was introduced in Georgia upon its declaration of independence in May 1918. It was abolished with the Soviet takeover of the country in February 1921. The newly independent Georgia established the position of prime minister in August 1991, only to be abolished de facto in the aftermath of the January 1992 military coup and legally in the 1995 Constitution. The office was reintroduced in the February 2004 constitutional amendment and further modified as a result of series of amendments passed between 2012 and 2018.

From the office's reestablishment in 2004 and throughout the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, the prime minister was appointed by the president and served as his chief adviser, while the President exercised most of the executive powers. However, after the entry into force of the 2012 and 2018 constitutional amendments, that instituted Georgia as a parliamentary republic, the president's executive powers were eliminated and transferred to the prime minister.

Qualifications

The office of prime minister may not be held by a citizen of Georgia who is simultaneously the citizen of another country.<ref>Template:Cite constitution</ref>

Appointment

The prime minister is nominated by a political party that has secured the best results in the parliamentary election. The nominee for premiership and his ministerial candidates must win the confidence vote of the Parliament and then, within 2 days of a vote of confidence, be formally appointed by the president of Georgia. If the president does not appoint the prime minister within the established time frame, the prime minister will be appointed automatically. If the parliamentary vote of confidence is not passed within the established time frame, the president dissolves the Parliament no earlier than two weeks and no later than three weeks after the respective time frame has expired, and calls extraordinary parliamentary election.<ref name="con56">Template:Cite constitution</ref>

Functions

The prime minister of Georgia is the head of the government, responsible for government activities and appointment and dismissal of ministers. They are accountable before the parliament. The prime minister signs the legal acts of the government<ref name="con55"/> and countersigns some of the acts issued by the president of Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite constitution</ref>

The prime minister has the right to use the defense forces without the Parliament's approval during martial law.<ref>Template:Cite constitution</ref> During the martial law, the prime minister becomes a member of the National Defense Council, a consultative body chaired by the president of Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite constitution</ref> Although it is the president who is officially the commander-in-chief, in practice, the military is managed by the Government and prime minister.

The prime minister is also the head of the National Security Council.

List of officeholders

Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921)

Chairman of Government (1918–1921)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Template:Abbr
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:Noe Besarionis dze Ramishvili.jpg	Noe Ramishvili Template:Small	26 May 1918	24 June 1918	Template:Ayd		Social Democratic Party of Georgia
2	File:Noe Schordania.jpg	Noe Zhordania Template:Small	24 June 1918	18 March 1921	Template:Ayd		Social Democratic Party of Georgia	1919

Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1990)

Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars (1921–1946)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Template:Abbr
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:Polikarp Mdivani.jpg	Polikarp Mdivani Template:Small	7 March 1922	19 April 1922	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
2	File:Sergey Kavtaradze.jpg	Sergey Kavtaradze Template:Small	19 April 1922	21 January 1923	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
3	File:Shalva Eliava - 2.jpg	Shalva Eliava Template:Small	21 January 1923	14 June 1927	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
4	File:L I Lavrentiev Kartvelishvili.jpg	Lavrenty Kartvelishvili Template:Small	14 June 1927	7 June 1929	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
5	File:Filipp Makharadze.jpg	Filipp Makharadze Template:Small	1 June 1929	20 January 1931	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
6	File:No image.png	Levan Sukhishvili Template:Small	20 January 1931	22 September 1931	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
7	File:German Mgaloblishvili Вручение орденов ЦИК СССР (cropped).jpg	German Mgaloblishvili Template:Small	22 September 1931	9 July 1937	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
8	File:No image.png	Valerian Bakradze Template:Small	9 July 1937	15 April 1946	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	1938

Chairmen of the Council of Ministers (1946–1990)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Template:Abbr
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
8	File:No image.png	Valerian Bakradze Template:Small	15 April 1946	26 March 1947	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
9	File:No image.png	Template:Ill Template:Small	26 March 1947	6 April 1952	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	1947
10	File:No image.png	Zakhary Ketskhoveli Template:Small	6 April 1952	16 April 1953	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	1951
(8)	File:No image.png	Valerian Bakradze Template:Small	16 April 1953	20 September 1953	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
11	File:No image.png	Givi Javakhishvili Template:Small	21 September 1953	17 December 1975	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	1955 1959 1963 1967 1971
12	File:No image.png	Zurab Pataridze Template:Small	17 December 1975	5 June 1982	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	1975 1980
13	File:No image.png	Template:Ill Template:Small	2 July 1982	12 April 1986	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
15	File:No image.png	Template:Ill Template:Small	12 April 1986	29 March 1989	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	1985
16	File:No image.png	Template:Ill Template:Small	29 March 1989	14 April 1989	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—
17	File:No image.png	Template:Ill Template:Small	14 April 1989	15 November 1990	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Communist Party of Georgia	—

Georgia (since 1990)

Prime minister (1990–1995)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Template:Abbr
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:Tengiz Sigua.png	Tengiz Sigua Template:Small	15 November 1990	18 August 1991	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Rustaveli Society	1990
—	File:No image.png	Murman Omanidze Template:Small	18 August 1991	23 August 1991	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	—
2	File:Besarion Gugushvili.jpg	Besarion Gugushvili Template:Small	23 August 1991	6 January 1992Template:Efn	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Round Table—Free Georgia	—
(1)	File:Tengiz Sigua.png	Tengiz Sigua Template:Small	6 January 1992	6 August 1993	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	1992
—	File:Eduard shevardnadze (cropped).jpg	Eduard Shevardnadze Template:Small	6 August 1993	20 August 1993	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	—
3	File:No image.png	Otar Patsatsia Template:Small	20 August 1993	5 October 1995	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	—

State Minister (1995–2004)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Template:Abbr
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:No image.png	Niko Lekishvili Template:Small	8 December 1995	26 July 1998	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Union of Citizens of Georgia
2	File:No image.png	Vazha Lortkipanidze Template:Small	31 July 1998	11 May 2000	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Union of Citizens of Georgia
3	File:No image.png	Giorgi Arsenishvili Template:Small	11 May 2000	21 December 2001	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Union of Citizens of Georgia
4	File:No image.png	Avtandil Jorbenadze Template:Small	21 December 2001	25 November 2003	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Union of Citizens of Georgia
5	File:Surab Schwania.jpg	Zurab Zhvania Template:Small	27 November 2003	17 February 2004	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	United National Movement

Prime minister (2004–present)

Template:Abbr	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Government(s)	Template:Abbr
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
4	File:Surab Schwania.jpg	Zurab Zhvania Template:Small	17 February 2004	3 February 2005†	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	United National Movement	2004	Zhvania
—	File:President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi (3x4 cropped).jpg	Mikheil Saakashvili Template:Small	3 February 2005	17 February 2005	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	United National Movement	—	Zhvania	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
5	File:Zurab Nogaideli.jpg	Zurab Noghaideli Template:Small	17 February 2005	16 November 2007	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	United National Movement	—	Noghaideli
—	File:Giorgi baramidze (cropped).jpg	Giorgi Baramidze Template:Small	16 November 2007	22 November 2007	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	United National Movement	—	Noghaideli	<ref>Acting Prime minister of Georgia criticized peacekeepers, CIS and Russia (in Russian) Template:Webarchive</ref>
6	File:Lado Gurgenidze.png	Lado Gurgenidze Template:Small	22 November 2007	1 November 2008	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	—	Gurgenidze
7	File:Grigol Mgaloblishvili (November 20, 2008) (A).jpg	Grigol Mgaloblishvili Template:Small	1 November 2008	6 February 2009	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	2008	Mgaloblishvili
8	File:Nika Gilauri (Thailand, 21 April 2010).jpg	Nika Gilauri Template:Small	6 February 2009	4 July 2012	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Independent	—	Gilauri
9	File:Ivane Merabishvili.jpg	Vano Merabishvili Template:Small	4 July 2012	25 October 2012	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	United National Movement	—	Merabishvili
10	File:Bidzina Ivanishvili 2013-07-19.jpg	Bidzina Ivanishvili Template:Small	25 October 2012	20 November 2013	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	2012	Ivanishvili
11	File:Irakli Garibashvili 2013. 2 (cropped).jpg	Irakli Garibashvili Template:Small	20 November 2013	30 December 2015	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	—	Garibashvili I
12	File:PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili meeting with Iranian VP Eshaq Jahangiri (cropped).jpg	Giorgi Kvirikashvili Template:Small	30 December 2015	30 June 2018	Template:Ayd	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	—	Kvirikashvili I
						2016		Kvirikashvili II
13	File:Mamuka Bakhtadze MSC 2019 (cropped).jpg	Mamuka Bakhtadze Template:Small	20 June 2018	2 September 2019	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	—	Bakhtadze
14	File:Giorgi Gakharia (cropped).jpg	Giorgi Gakharia Template:Small	8 September 2019	18 February 2021	Template:Ayd	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	—	Gakharia I
						2020		Gakharia II
—	File:Майя Цкитишвили (21-11-2019).jpg	Maya Tskitishvili Template:Small	18 February 2021	21 February 2021	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream		—	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
15	File:PM Garibashvili, Munich Security Conference, Munich - Hotel Bayerischer Hof.jpg	Irakli Garibashvili Template:Small	22 February 2021	29 January 2024	Template:Ayd	style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	—	Garibashvili II
16	File:Irakli Kobakhidze 2024b (cropped).jpg	Irakli Kobakhidze Template:Small	8 February 2024	Incumbent (Disputed)	Template:Ayd	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:Party color|	Georgian Dream	—	Kobakhidze I
						2024<ref>Disputed by opposition parties</ref>		Kobakhidze II

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1050 height:auto barincrement:14 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:100 right:150 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors =

id:ind  value:gray(0.8)              legend:Independent
id:SDPG value:rgb(0.545,0,0)         legend:Social_Democratic_Party_of_Georgia
id:CPG  value:red                    legend:Communist_Party_of_Georgia
id:RTFG value:rgb(0.82,0.20,0.22)    legend:Round_Table—Free_Georgia
id:UCG  value:rgb(0.137,0.082,0.467) legend:Union_of_Citizens_of_Georgia
id:UNM value:rgb(0.737,0,0)          legend:United_National_Movement
id:GD  value:rgb(0.153,0.314,0.612)  legend:Georgian_Dream

id:liteline value:gray(0.8)
id:line     value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)
id:bg       value:white

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1918 till:31/12/{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+1}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1918 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1918

Legend = columns:1 left:110 top:57 columnwidth:220

Define $now = {{#time:d/m/Y|-3 hours}}

TextData =

 pos:(20,57) textcolor:black fontsize:s
 text:"Political Affiliation:"

BarData =

bar:Ramishvili
bar:Zhordania
bar:Mdivani
bar:Kavtaradze
bar:Eliava
bar:LKartvelishvili
bar:Makharadze
bar:Sukhishvili
bar:Mgaloblishvili
bar:Bakradze
bar:Chkhubianishvili
bar:Ketskhoveli
bar:Javakhishvili
bar:Pataridze 
bar:DKartvelishvili
bar:Cherkezia 
bar:Chkheidze
bar:Chitanava
bar:Sigua
bar:Omanidze
bar:Gugushvili
bar:Shevardnadze
bar:Patsatsia
bar:Lekishvili
bar:Lortkipanidze
bar:Arsenishvili
bar:Jorbenadze
bar:Zhvania
bar:Saakashvili
bar:Noghaideli
bar:Baramidze
bar:Gurgenidze
bar:Mgalobishvili
bar:Gilauri
bar:Merabishvili
bar:Ivanishvili
bar:Garibashvili
bar:Kvirikashvili
bar:Bakhtadze
bar:Gakharia
bar:Tskitishvili
bar:Kobakhidze

PlotData=

 width:6 align:left fontsize:s shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Ramishvili
 from: 26/05/1918 till: 24/06/1918 color:SDPG text:"Noe Ramishvili"
bar:Zhordania
 from: 24/06/1918 till: 18/03/1921 color:SDPG text:"Noe Zhordania"
bar:Mdivani
 from: 07/03/1922 till: 19/04/1922 color:CPG  text:"Polikarp Mdivani"
bar:Kavtaradze
 from: 19/04/1922 till: 21/01/1923 color:CPG  text:"Sergey Kavtaradze"
bar:Eliava
 from: 21/01/1923 till: 14/06/1927 color:CPG  text:"Shalva Eliava"
bar:LKartvelishvili
 from: 14/06/1927 till: 07/06/1929 color:CPG  text:"Lavrenty Kartvelishvili"
bar:Makharadze
 from: 07/06/1929 till: 20/01/1931 color:CPG  text:"Filipp Makharadze"
bar:Sukhishvili
 from: 20/01/1931 till: 22/09/1931 color:CPG  text:"Levan Sukhishvili"
bar:Mgaloblishvili
 from: 22/09/1931 till: 09/07/1937 color:CPG  text:"German Mgaloblishvili"
bar:Bakradze
 from: 09/07/1937 till: 26/03/1947 color:CPG
 from: 16/04/1953 till: 20/09/1953 color:CPG  text:"Valerian Bakradze"
bar:Chkhubianishvili
 from: 26/03/1947 till: 06/04/1952 color:CPG  text:"Zakhary Chkhubianishvili"
bar:Ketskhoveli
 from: 06/04/1952 till: 16/04/1953 color:CPG  text:"Zakhary Ketskhoveli"
bar:Javakhishvili
 from: 21/09/1953 till: 17/12/1975 color:CPG  text:"Givi Javakhishvili"
bar:Pataridze
 from: 17/12/1975 till: 05/06/1982 color:CPG  text:"Zurab Pataridze"
bar:DKartvelishvili
 from: 05/06/1982 till: 12/04/1986 color:CPG  text:"Dmitry Kartvelishvili"
bar:Cherkezia 
 from: 12/04/1986 till: 29/03/1989 color:CPG  text:"Otar Cherkezia"
bar:Chkheidze
 from: 29/03/1989 till: 14/04/1989 color:CPG  text:"Zurab Chkheidze"
bar:Chitanava
 from: 14/04/1989 till: 15/11/1990 color:CPG  text:"Nodari Chitanava"
bar:Sigua
 from: 15/11/1990 till: 18/08/1991 color:Ind
 from: 06/01/1992 till: 06/08/1993 color:Ind  text:"Tengiz Sigua"
bar:Omanidze
 from: 18/08/1991 till: 23/08/1991 color:Ind  text:"Murman Omanidze"
bar:Gugushvili
 from: 23/08/1991 till: 06/01/1992 color:RTFG text:"Besarion Gugushvili"
bar:Shevardnadze
 from: 06/08/1993 till: 20/08/1993 color:Ind  text:"Eduard Shevardnadze"
bar:Patsatsia
 from: 20/08/1993 till: 05/10/1995 color:Ind  text:"Otar Patsatsia"
bar:Lekishvili
 from: 08/12/1995 till: 26/07/1998 color:UCG  text:"Niko Lekishvili"
bar:Lortkipanidze
 from: 26/07/1998 till: 11/05/2000 color:UCG  text:"Vazha Lortkipanidze"
bar:Arsenishvili
 from: 11/05/2000 till: 21/12/2001 color:UCG  text:"Giorgi Arsenishvili"
bar:Jorbenadze
 from: 21/12/2001 till: 07/11/2003 color:UCG  text:"Avtandil Jorbenadze"
bar:Zhvania
 from: 07/11/2003 till: 03/02/2005 color:UNM  text:"Zurab Zhvania"
bar:Saakashvili
 from: 03/02/2005 till: 17/02/2005 color:UNM  text:"Mikheil Saakashvili"
bar:Noghaideli
 from: 17/02/2005 till: 16/11/2007 color:UNM  text:"Zurab Noghaideli"
bar:Baramidze
 from: 16/11/2007 till: 22/11/2007 color:UNM  text:"Giorgi Baramidze"
bar:Gurgenidze
 from: 22/11/2007 till: 01/11/2008 color:Ind  text:"Lado Gurgenidze"
bar:Mgalobishvili
 from: 01/11/2008 till: 06/02/2009 color:Ind  text:"Grigol Mgaloblishvili"
bar:Gilauri
 from: 06/02/2009 till: 04/07/2012 color:Ind  text:"Nika Gilauri"
bar:Merabishvili
 from: 04/07/2012 till: 25/10/2012 color:UNM  text:"Vano Merabishvili"
bar:Ivanishvili
 from: 25/10/2012 till: 20/11/2013 color:GD   text:"Bidzina Ivanishvili"
bar:Garibashvili
 from: 20/11/2013 till: 30/12/2015 color:GD
 from: 22/02/2021 till: 29/01/2024 color:GD   text:"Irakli Garibashvili"
bar:Kvirikashvili
 from: 30/12/2015 till: 13/06/2018 color:GD   text:"Giorgi Kvirikashvili"
bar:Bakhtadze
 from: 13/06/2018 till: 02/09/2019 color:GD   text:"Mamuka Bakhtadze"
bar:Gakharia
 from: 08/09/2019 till: 18/02/2021 color:GD   text:"Giorgi Gakharia"
bar:Tskitishvili 
 from: 18/02/2021 till: 21/02/2021 color:GD   text:"Maya Tskitishvili"
bar:Kobakhidze
 from: 08/02/2024 till: $now       color:GD   text:"Irakli Kobakhidze"

</timeline>

See also

• President of Georgia