President of Georgia

The President of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, sakartvelos prezidenti) is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief, and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government. The office was first introduced by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia on 14 April 1991, five days after Georgia's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The President serves a five-year term. The incumbent is Giorgi Margvelashvili, who was sworn in on 17 November 2013.

Constitutional powers and duties

The President of Georgia is Head of State and was formerly the head of the executive branch, prior to 2013. The President directs and implements foreign policy, ensures the unity and territorial integrity of the country, and supervises the activities of state bodies in accordance, with the Constitution. The President is the supreme representative of Georgia in foreign relations.

Georgia

Georgia has two principal meanings:

Georgia may also refer to:

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President

A president is the leader of a country or a division or part of a country, typically a republic, a democracy, or a dictatorship. The title "president" is sometimes used by extension for leaders of other groups, including corporate entities.

Etymologically, a president is one who presides (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term praeses). Originally, the term referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e., chairman), but today it most commonly refers to an executive official. Among other things, "President" today is a common title for the heads of state of most republics, whether presidential republics, semi-presidential republics or parliamentary republics.

Title

The title President is derived from the Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit." As such, it originally designated the officer who presides over or "sits before" a gathering and ensures that debate is conducted according to the rules of order (see also chairman and speaker). Early examples are from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (from 1464) and the founding President of the Royal Society William Brouncker in 1660. This usage survives today in the title of such offices as "President of the Board of Trade" and "Lord President of the Council" in the United Kingdom, as well as "President of the Senate" (one of the roles constitutionally assigned to the Vice-President of the United States). The officiating priest at certain Anglican religious services, too, is sometimes called the "President" in this sense. However the most common modern usage is as the title of a head of state in a republic.

Giorgi Margvelashvili

Giorgi Margvelashvili (Georgian: გიორგი მარგველაშვილი; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who has been President of Georgia since 17 November 2013.

A philosopher by education, he was twice the rector of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs from 2000 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2012. In October 2012, he became a member of the newly formed cabinet of Bidzina Ivanishvili as Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. In February 2013, he was additionally appointed as First Deputy Prime Minister. Margvelashvili was named by the Ivanishvili-led Georgian Dream coalition as its presidential candidate in May 2013 and he won the October 2013 presidential election with 62% of votes. Margvelashvili is not a member of any political party.

Education and academic career

Giorgi Margvelashvili was born in Tbilisi in the family of Teimuraz Margvelashvili (born 1938), an engineer, and Mzeana Gomelauri (born 1933), a psychologist. Margvelashvili graduated from the Tbilisi State University in 1992 with a degree in philosophy. He continued his post-graduate education at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary (1993–1994) and the Institute of Philosophy, Georgian Academy of Sciences (1993–1996). In 1998, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the Tbilisi State University. Early in the 1990s he worked as a mountain guide at the Caucasus Travel agency. He joined National Democratic Institute's Tbilisi office as a program consultant in 1995 and worked for it before becoming affiliated with the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), a joint Georgian–United States educational establishment, in 2000.