New Ambassadorial Nomination Sparks Controversy in Parliament

A group of parliamentarians, including some from the ruling National Movement party, announced at the parliament’s session on May 19 that they would not support the nomination of Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgi Gomiashvili as Georgia’s Ambassador to Switzerland.

The MPs who voiced their dissent for this nomination mainly cited Gomiashvili’s “diplomatic inexperience” as the reason behind their decision. “I cannot support Gomiashvili’s appointment as an Ambassador. This is my personal position and does not indicate any confrontation within the [ruling party’s parliamentary] faction,” Parliament’s Vice Speaker Mikheil Machavariani said.
 
MP Maia Nadiradze, the parliamentary majority leader, said members of the ruling faction have different opinions regarding Gomiashvili’s candidacy, and “this is basically caused by the fact that he tried to hamper free access by parliamentarians to information” regarding Georgian embassies. Nadiradze statement refers to a recent decree by the Foreign Ministry instructing Georgian embassies abroad to inform the Ministry before providing any information to the Parliament or to any other state structure.

Some unofficial reports also claim that some parliamentarians are opposing Gomiashvili’s nomination because he is regarded as a protégé of Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili, with whom some of the leading parliamentarians have strained relations with. But the MPs themselves have denied that they have any personal disagreement with Salome Zourabichvili.

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