| Post: | Prime Minister |
| Body: | Georgia |
| Insignia: | Greater coat of arms of Georgia.svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Coat of arms of Georgia |
| Flagborder: | yes |
| Incumbentsince: | 8 February 2024 |
| Department: | Administration of the Government of Georgia |
| Style: |
|
| Type: | Head of government |
| Abbreviation: | PM, Premier |
| Reports To: | Parliament |
| Seat: | State Chancellery |
| Nominator: | Parliament |
| Appointer: | President |
| Appointer Qualified: | (The president appoints the designated prime minister who has been confirmed by the parliament) |
| Termlength: | Four years, |
| Termlength Qualified: | renewable indefinitely |
| Constituting Instrument: | Constitution of Georgia |
| First: | Noe Ramishvili (Georgian Democratic Republic) |
| Deputy: | First Deputy Prime Minister |
| Salary: | 13,000 GEL/US$ 5,019 per month[1] |
The prime minister of Georgia (Georgian: საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი|tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia.
In Georgia, the president is a ceremonial head of state and mainly acts as a figurehead. The executive power is vested in the Government. The prime minister organizes, directs, and controls the functions of the Government. He also signs its legal acts. They appoint and dismiss ministers in the Cabinet. The prime minister represents Georgia in foreign relations and concludes international treaties on behalf of Georgia. They are accountable for the activities of the Government before the Parliament of Georgia.[2]
The prime minister is nominated by a political party that has secured the best results in the parliamentary election. The nominee must win the Confidence vote of the Parliament.The current prime minister is Irakli Kobakhidze, who was nominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party on 2 February and his government was approved on 8 February, 2024.[3] [4]
The office of prime minister under the name of the chairman of Government was introduced in Georgia upon its declaration of independence in May 1918. It was abolished with the Soviet takeover of the country in February 1921. The newly independent Georgia established the position of prime minister in August 1991, only to be abolished de facto in the aftermath of the January 1992 military coup and legally in the 1995 Constitution. The office was reintroduced in the February 2004 constitutional amendment and further modified as a result of series of amendments passed between 2012 and 2018.
From the office's reestablishment in 2004 and throughout the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, the prime minister was appointed by the President and served as his chief adviser, while the President exercised most of the executive powers. However, after the entry into force of the 2012 and 2018 constitutional amendments, that instituted Georgia as a parliamentary republic, the president's executive powers were eliminated and transferred to the prime minister.
The office of prime minister may not be held by a citizen of Georgia who is simultaneously the citizen of another country.[5]
The prime minister is nominated by a political party that has secured the best results in the parliamentary election. The nominee for premiership and his ministerial candidates must win the confidence vote of the Parliament and then, within 2 days of a vote of confidence, be formally appointed by the president of Georgia. If the president does not appoint the prime minister within the established time frame, the prime minister will be appointed automatically. If the parliamentary vote of confidence is not passed within the established time frame, the president dissolves the Parliament no earlier than two weeks and no later than three weeks after the respective time frame has expired, and calls extraordinary parliamentary election.[6]
The prime minister of Georgia is the head of the Government, responsible for government activities and appointment and dismissal of ministers. They are accountable before the parliament. The prime minister signs the legal acts of the government[2] and countersigns some of the acts issued by the president of Georgia.[7]
The prime minister has the right to use the Defense Forces without the Parliament's approval during martial law.[8] During the martial law, the prime minister becomes a member of the National Defense Council, a consultative body chaired by the president of Georgia.[9] Although it is the president who is officially the commander-in-chief, in practice, the military is managed by the Government and prime minister.
The prime minister is also the head of the National Security Council.
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Elected | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| 1 | Noe Ramishvili | 26 May 1918 | 24 June 1918 | Social Democratic Party of Georgia | ||||||
| 2 | Noe Zhordania | 24 June 1918 | 18 March 1921 | Social Democratic Party of Georgia | 1919 | |||||
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Elected | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| 1 | Polikarp Mdivani | 7 March 1922 | 19 April 1922 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 2 | Sergey Kavtaradze | 19 April 1922 | 21 January 1923 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 3 | Shalva Eliava | 21 January 1923 | 14 June 1927 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 4 | Lavrenty Kartvelishvili | 14 June 1927 | 7 June 1929 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 5 | Filipp Makharadze | 1 June 1929 | 20 January 1931 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 6 | Levan Sukhishvili | 20 January 1931 | 22 September 1931 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 7 | German Mgaloblishvili | 22 September 1931 | 9 July 1937 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 8 | Valerian Bakradze | 9 July 1937 | 15 April 1946 | Communist Party of Georgia | 1938 | |||||
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Elected | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| 8 | Valerian Bakradze | 15 April 1946 | 26 March 1947 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 9 | 26 March 1947 | 6 April 1952 | Communist Party of Georgia | 1947 | ||||||
| 10 | Zakhary Ketskhoveli | 6 April 1952 | 16 April 1953 | Communist Party of Georgia | 1951 | |||||
| (8) | Valerian Bakradze | 16 April 1953 | 20 September 1953 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | |||||
| 11 | Givi Javakhishvili | 21 September 1953 | 17 December 1975 | Communist Party of Georgia | 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 | |||||
| 12 | Zurab Pataridze | 17 December 1975 | 5 June 1982 | Communist Party of Georgia | 1975 1980 | |||||
| 13 | 2 July 1982 | 12 April 1986 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | ||||||
| 15 | 12 April 1986 | 29 March 1989 | Communist Party of Georgia | 1985 | ||||||
| 16 | 29 March 1989 | 14 April 1989 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | ||||||
| 17 | 14 April 1989 | 15 November 1990 | Communist Party of Georgia | — | ||||||
| 18 | Tengiz Sigua | 15 November 1990 | 18 August 1991 | Independent | 1990 | |||||
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Elected | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| — | Murman Omanidze | 18 August 1991 | 23 August 1991 | Independent | — | |||||
| 1 | Besarion Gugushvili | 23 August 1991 | 6 January 1992 | Round Table—Free Georgia | — | |||||
| 2 | Tengiz Sigua | 6 January 1992 | 6 August 1993 | Independent | 1992 | |||||
| — | Eduard Shevardnadze | 6 August 1993 | 20 August 1993 | Independent | — | |||||
| 3 | Otar Patsatsia | 20 August 1993 | 5 October 1995 | Independent | — | |||||
See main article: State Minister (Georgia).
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| 1 | Niko Lekishvili | 8 December 1995 | 26 July 1998 | Union of Citizens of Georgia | |||||
| 2 | Vazha Lortkipanidze | 31 July 1998 | 11 May 2000 | Union of Citizens of Georgia | |||||
| 3 | Giorgi Arsenishvili | 11 May 2000 | 21 December 2001 | Union of Citizens of Georgia | |||||
| 4 | Avtandil Jorbenadze | 21 December 2001 | 7 November 2003 | Union of Citizens of Georgia | |||||
| 5 | Zurab Zhvania | 7 November 2003 | 17 February 2004 | United National Movement | |||||