Georgia Prime Minister Garibashvili resigns
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili resigned on Wednesday after two years in power, with the ruling coalition struggling to boost its popularity ahead of parliamentary polls next year, AFP reported.
"I took the decision to leave my post," Garibashvili, head of the Georgian Dream coalition, said in a televised address to the nation, without disclosing the reason.
"All posts are temporary. Only God and the motherland are eternal," a stone-faced Garibashvili added.
Opposition politicians said that his resignation may likely be part of the coalition's efforts to reverse a rapid loss of popularity amid economic turmoil before parliamentary elections set to take place in October 2016.
"Georgian Dream is looking for a replacement for Garibashvili as its ratings are falling catastrophically," a lawmaker from opposition Free Democrats party, Irakli Chikovani, told journalists earlier on Wednesday.
"Garibashvili's resignation would be a logical step as the country is in the midst of a catastrophic economic crisis," lawmaker and one of the leaders of the opposition United National Movement party (UNM), Giga Bokeria, told journalists as rumours of the impending resignation circulated.
Garibashvili, now 33, became the youngest head of government in Europe when he was appointed to the job in the former Soviet republic in November 2013.
He was a political unknown before his billionaire tycoon predecessor Bidzina Ivanishvili named him interior minister in October 2012.
Garibashvili said Ivanishvili's resignation in 2013 "had set an example for stepping down in a timely fashion".
Media reports tipped deputy prime minister and foreign minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the next premier while parliament speaker David Usupashvili said "the coalition will make decision on Garibashvili’s replacement on Friday."