For the first time a female president was elected, and an alien candidate defeated, on Georgian soil

Georgian citizens feel less optimistic about world leaders compared to 2014. Over the last four years, favorability ratings for world leaders such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jingping have all dropped universally.

Georgia will hold presidential elections in less than two months’ time and will take an electoral year off until 2020 when parliamentary elections are scheduled. We are a parliamentary republic and the president is granted very limited power. The directly-elected president will serve until 2024 after which presidents will be elected by members of parliament.

The Russian language was compulsory when I was a kid and it was universally taught in the education system. It was a very important language especially if one wanted to work in certain fields like engineering or the social sciences due to a lack of access to literature in languages other that Russian. In addition, Russian was and remains today an essential language among ethnic Armenians and Azeris residing outside of Tbilisi, to say nothing of communication with citizens from former Soviet republics. 

People tend give a lot of weight to plebiscites and referendums due to their focus on political participation. However, petitions can also help to improve things in many ways and make life more enjoyable and healthier.