The Georgian Parliament adopted an amendment to the country's constitution on Tuesday allowing EU citizens to participate in parliamentary and presidential elections in the country as voters and candidates, allowing Georgian-born billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili to stand as a candidate in the polls, daily online news service Civil.ge reported.
Ivanishvili, also known as Boris, does not have a Georgian passport but holds French citizenship.
He once held Georgian nationality but he lost it when he was granted French passport as Georgia does not allow dual citizenships. The Russian authorities also deprived Ivanishvili of his Russian citizenship at his request.
The new rule will be in force until 2014, allowing those who meet the requirements to take part in the 2012 parliamentary and 2013 presidential elections.
The amendments to the constitution were made specifically for Ivanishvili, who criticized the changes being made just for him. His press service said he would use this opportunity to participate in the elections.
Ivanishvili, ranked 25th by Forbes in its list of Russian businessmen with an estimated fortune of $5.5 billion, announced his intention in October last year to create a political party uniting "healthy" political forces in Georgia with the goal of achieving an absolute majority in the 2012 elections.
