Irakli Kobakhidze becomes Prime Minister of Georgia

Georgian politician Irakli Kobakhidze assumed the office of Prime Minister of Georgia on 8th February 2024. He succeeded Irakli Garibashvili, who resigned on 29th January 2024. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Kobakhidze served as Speaker of the Georgian parliament from 18th November 2016 until 21st June 2019 and as Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party from 11th January 2021 until 1st February 2024.

Irakli Kobakhidze

He was appointed Prime Minister by Parliament with 84 votes in favour and 10 votes against. While speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Kobakhidze stated that his government will attempt to restore Georgia's territorial integrity. Two regions of Georgia - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - are currently occupied by Russia. The Russian occupation of the two regions started during a 16-day war in 2008 between Georgia and Russia, with the war also resulting in at least 20,000 ethnic Georgians being forcibly displaced from South Ossetia, an act that constitutes ethnic cleansing.