Georgia, Tbilisi, Oct.12 / Trend, N. Kirtskhalia /
If a person is not a Georgian citizen, he can not participate in any elections in the country or become a government member, Executive Director of NGO "Public Defender", lawyer Manana Kobakhidze told Trend.
She said according to Georgian legislation, if a person has lost Georgian citizenship he can carry out neither passive nor active electoral rights in Georgia. The legislation also prohibits a foreign citizen's appointment as a government member.
"Therefore, if Bidzina Ivanishvili wants to participate in elections or become a government member, he must appeal to the Georgian President, who is authorized to give a person dual citizenship. Only in this case he will be able to participate in political life," Kobakhidze said.
In accordance with the Civil Registry Agency's information, Bidzina Ivanishvili is not a Georgian citizen. The statement says that after receiving Georgian citizenship in 2004 Ivanishvili also received French citizenship, which, according to the Georgian legislation, automatically means the loss of the country's citizenship.