Presidency of Salome Zourabichvili

Salome Zourabichvili's tenure as the fifth president of Georgia began with her inauguration on 16 December 2018 and has been disputed with Mikheil Kavelashvili since 29 December 2024 as part of a country's political crisis. It was the first presidency since the adoption of a new Constitution transforming Georgia into a parliamentary system in 2018. Zourabichvili's term was the longest term of any presidency in Georgia's history, as the transition into a new Constitution meant that her mandate lasted until 2024.

Salome Zourabichvili is a former French diplomat of Georgian origins who served France's diplomatic corps until her selection as Georgia's Foreign Affairs Minister in 2004. Often a critic of bureaucratic restraints, the concentration of powers, and corruption under the leadership of Mikheil Saakashvili, she became an opposition leader in 2006, until joining the Georgian Dream political coalition as an independent member of Parliament in 2016. In 2018, she was elected in a contentious election with 60% of the vote, making her the second non-partisan President of Georgia (the first being her predecessor, Giorgi Margvelashvili.)

With limited powers compared to her predecessors, Zourabichvili's presidency began with a move to create an investigation into the mysterious death of former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a push that was welcomed by both the Georgian Dream ruling party and members of the opposition.