David Bakradze ( ka, დავით ბაქრაძე; born 1 July 1972) is a Georgian politician and diplomat who served as the Chairman of the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members elected through fully pr ...

from 7 June 2008 to 21 October 2012. Bakradze's previous assignments include a member of the Parliament from the

United National Movement United National Movement (UNM; ka, ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა, tr) also colloquially known as the Natsebi is a liberal conservative political party in Georgia. Tina Bokuchava serves as the p ...

(April 2004-September 2007), Minister for the Conflict Issues (July 2007-January 2008), Minister of Foreign Affairs (January 2008-April 2008), and the President of Georgia's special envoy to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(April 2008-June 2008). He is a First Class State Counselor and holds a

diplomatic rank Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, Seating plan, t ...

of Chief Minister Counselor.

Early life and education

David Bakradze was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

. He was educated at

Georgian Technical University Georgian Technical University (GTU, formerly V.I. Lenin Georgian Polytechnical Institute) is the main and largest technical university of Georgia. It is located in the capital city of Tbilisi. History Georgian Technical University was foun ...

and the Georgian Institute for Public Affairs ( GIPA) as well as gaining a Doctor's degree in Physics and Mathematics from

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, tr; often shorten ...

. Apart from numerous high-profile government positions Bakradze has been actively involved in various educational programmes attending the Swiss International Relations Institute in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, in 1997, and studying at George Marshall European Centre for Security Studies in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1998. In 2001 Bakradze graduated from

NATO Defence College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, t ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He has served in the

National Guard of Georgia The National Guard of Georgia (GNG, ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული გვარდია, ''sak'art'velos erovnuli gvardia'') is the gendarmerie, guard of honour, and military reserve force branch of the Defense ...

Reserve and is a lieutenant commander.

Political career

Bakradze has been actively involved in Georgian politics since 1997. He worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from 1997 to 2002, and for the

National Security Council of Georgia , native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = Advisory body , seal = , seal_size = 250 , seal_caption = Seal , seal_alt = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_caption = , logo ...

from 2002 to 2004. In April 2004, he was elected to the

from the

(UNM) led by the

President of Georgia The president of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრეზიდენტი, tr) is the ceremonial head of state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U ...

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

. He chaired the Parliamentary Committee for the

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Integration until 19 July 2007, when he was appointed as a Minister for the Conflict Issues, and hence, a chief negotiator in the

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

n and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

n affairs. In January 2008, he became the Foreign Minister of Georgia in the cabinet of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lado Gurgenidze Vladimer "Lado" Gurgenidze ( ka, ვლადიმერ ��ადოგურგენიძე; born 7 December 1970) is a Georgian career banker, business executive, and former politician, who was the sixth Prime Minister of Georgia, from 22 ...

. On 21 April 2008 Bakradze was named to lead the UNM

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

in the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

scheduled on 21 May 2008. This decision came after the chairperson of the outgoing parliament,

Nino Burjanadze Nino Burjanadze (; ; born 16 July 1964) is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 to June 2008. As the first woman, she has served as the acting head of state of Georgia twice; ...

, refused, in a surprise move, to lead the party list due to her disagreement with the UNM leadership. On 7 June 2008 Bakradze was unanimously elected a chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia at that legislature's inaugural session. In 2012 he was again selected again selected to lead the UNM list for the 1 October

, which was won by the

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GD), also colloquially known as the Kotsebi, is a Conservatism, conservative and populism, populist List of political parties in Georgia (country), political party in Georgia (country), Georgia, which has ...

opposition coalition. Consequently, Bakradze became the leader of the parliamentary minority, being succeeded by

David Usupashvili David Usupashvili ( ka, დავით უსუფაშვილი, ''Davit Usupašvili;'' born March 5, 1968) is a Georgian lawyer and politician who was the chairman of the Parliament of Georgia from 2012 to 2016. He served as the chairm ...

, a Georgian Dream member, as the chairman of the parliament. In 2013, Bakradze was selected to be the UNM's candidate through internal party election, primaries for the 27 October

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. He ended up second in the race and, shortly after the exit poll results were announced, congratulated Georgian Dream's candidate

Giorgi Margvelashvili Giorgi Margvelashvili ( ka, გიორგი მარგველაშვილი; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who was the fourth president of Georgia, in office from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018. ...

on victory. In the 2018 election, he came in third and received nearly 11 percent of the vote; for the run-off, he announced he would support

Grigol Vashadze Grigol Vashadze ( ka, გრიგოლ ვაშაძე, also transliterated as Gregory Vashadze) (born July 19, 1958) is a Georgian politician, diplomat and a former member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of the Minister for Cultu ...

in the second round.

Recognition

Bakradze was awarded the Commander's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by the President of Poland (2010).

Notes

References

External links

Bakradze - Government of Georgia Website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakradze, David 1972 births Living people Diplomats from Tbilisi Government ministers of Georgia (country) Politicians from Tbilisi Speakers of the Parliament of Georgia United National Movement (Georgia) politicians Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Ministers of foreign affairs of Georgia Ambassadors of Georgia (country) to the United States European Georgia politicians Georgian Technical University alumni