President Officially Sets Parliamentary Elections for October 26

"The day of decision is approaching - the day of choice, the day of salvation.

Today, we face not just an ordinary election, where citizens choose which political force aligns with their worldview, but rather a moment of profound significance for the future of our country.

Our choice today is existential! This decision will shape the country's fate for many years, which is why, as president, I must weigh in on these elections. If this were merely a contest between political forces, I would have nothing to add.

They want to convince us that this election is a choice between war and peace! This is a lie, for the threat of war cannot be averted through elections, and no one ever chooses war. Today, no one in Georgia desires war, and no one is preparing for it. Isolation, internal conflict, and blurred priorities only increase the enemy’s appetite - the threat of war. Instead, courage, unity, and clarity, whether dealing with friends or adversaries, are the best defense for the country’s security. We must prepare for a choice that, as I have stated from the beginning, is equivalent to a referendum: Europe or Russia.

We must decide who we are, what we want, and where we are headed: the past or progress, freedom or slavery, dictatorship or democracy, single-party rule or multi-party governance, protection and strengthening of our identity or the fate, dignity, and rights of our citizens in occupied territories, Christian tolerance or Russian violence and intolerance, independence or occupation - whether visible or invisible. Rarely in Georgia's history has there been such an opportunity to determine our fate calmly, definitively, without war and controversy, by expressing our will.

Precisely because we reject both war and internal conflict, it is essential to express the people's will so openly and clearly that no one can defy it - this is how stability will be preserved.

This requires us to be fully mobilized, to overcome our fears, and to recognize our responsibility," said Salome Zourabichvili.

The parliamentary elections on October 26 will feature a 5% threshold. Most parties will participate with a unified list. Voters will elect 150 members of the Parliament of Georgia for a four-year term based on a proportional election system.

The pre-election campaign has begun today, and several regulations have been implemented as part of the election legislation's pre-election agitation provisions.