TBILISI, November 18. /TASS/. Georgia’s parliament has elected its new speaker by a 118-3 vote in favor of Irakli Kobakhidze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party elected to the parliament on party lists. The speaker was elected at Friday’s parliamentary session held in the city of Kutaisi.
Speaking to the members of parliament, Kobakhidze said that "in the coming four years the parliament should continue work to lay the political and legal groundwork for Georgia’s rapid economic development and for gradual implementation of Georgia’s aims in foreign policy."
"In the 2016 parliamentary election, the Georgian people have again showed their confidence in Western foreign policies and the country’s aspiration towards Euro-Atlantic integration," he said.
"We need effective and consistent steps to implement our citizens’ choice and aspiration. We need to develop the partnership with the European Union, Euro-Atlantic agencies, United States and other Western strategic allies, who share common values and interests with us," he said.
Also, the 38-year-old politician noted that "through a pragmatic foreign policy, the authorities must ensure Georgia’s security and stability, strengthen partnership with regional nations, also particular attention should be drawn to expansion of economic cooperation."
Irakli Kobakhidze was born in Tbilisi in 1978. After getting a degree at the law department of Tbilisi University and then at Dusseldorf University, he has become Tbilisi University’s professor. Kobakhidze is the author of six books and ten articles on constitutional law, published both in Georgia and Western Europe. Since 2012, Kobakhidze has been an activist of the Georgian Dream party, becoming its executive secretary this year. He speaks Georgian, German, English and Russian. Married with two children.