an MP.

Not every member of Georgian Dream was excited about supporting Zourabichvili, but given that she was Ivanishvili’s personal choice, few in the party had the courage to argue with him outright.

Zourabichvili was the target of a social media campaign, mostly because of her remarks about the August 2008 War. She said that Georgia started military activities and ultimately the war by reacting to Russian provocations.

The opposition, a number of NGOs and a large portion of the public, believe Zourabichvili’s statements are “anti-state” and reflect the Kremlin’s point of view. She is often called a traitor.

Grigol Vashadze

Grigol Vashadze is a member of the former ruling United National Movement party (UNM) of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, and is represented in the elections by the opposition Strength in Unity coalition.

After graduatingfrom Moscow Institute of International Relations, Vashadze worked in the USSR Foreign Ministry for several years in the late 1980s.

He ended his diplomatic career in the early 1990s. After that he lived in Moscow, was engaged in private business and was also the impresario of his famous wife, the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre Nino Ananiashvili.

In 2004, Ananiashvili, at the suggestion of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, headed the ballet troupe of the Georgian Opera and Ballet Theatre and in the same year received Georgian citizenship. Grigol Vashadze moved with his wife to Tbilisi.

In November 2008, Vashadze took up the post of Minister of Culture and Sports of Georgia, and in December of the same year he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Vashadze was still a citizen