Manana Kobakhidze

Education

Manana Kobakhidze graduated from the Tbilisi State University with a degree in history in 1990 and from the Tbilisi Institute of Law in 2003.

Career

She worked as a journalist, school-teacher and lawyer before joining the Tbilisi-based human rights advocacy organization Article 42 of the Constitution in 2003. She became Executive Director of this organization in 2009. On October 21, 2012, she was elected the First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.

Achievements

• The GDDG won a parliamentary plurality in the October 1, 2012 election, Kobakhidze being elected for the Sachkhere District.

Politics

She has been the chairwoman of the Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia party since April 21, 2012, and the First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia since October 21, 2012. In 2012, she joined the new opposition party Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia (GDDG) founded by the tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili. On April 21, 2012, Kobakhidze became the GDDG"s temporary chairperson as Ivanishvili was not allowed to lead the political party due to his being stripped of Georgian citizenship.