Irakli Kobakhidze

Irakli Kobakhidze (Georgian: ირაკლი კობახიძე; born 25 September 1978) is a Georgian politician who was elected as the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia on 18 November 2016.
Kobakhidze graduated from the Tbilisi State University with a degree in law in 2000 and obtained his PhD from the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia in 2002. After being awarded the LLM and PhD degrees at the University of Dusseldorf in 2005 and 2006, respectively, Kobakhidze lectured at various Georgian universities and simultaneously served as UNDP's project manager. He was also involved as an expert in strategic planning issues in the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and served as a member of the committee of experts for human rights and rule of law program at Open Society–Georgia Foundation. Kobakhidze joined the ruling Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party in January 2015 and became its executive secretary. After the GDDG's victory in the 2016 parliamentary election, Kobakhidze was elected as chairman of the Parliament with 118 votes to 3 on 18 November 2016. His election was criticized by the opposition United National Movement party members, who accused Kobakhidze of being "a mouthpiece of public split and not of reconciliation in the pre-election period."