New Cabinet Expected Today
Prime ministerial nominee, Lado Gurgenidze, has convened a news conference for 6pm local time on Thursday to announce his new cabinet.
Earlier today Gia Khuroshvili, the government parliamentary secretary, said that the new cabinet would be submitted to Parliament for approval on January 25.
“The Parliamentary Bureau, [which decides on the timing of the process] will be convened tomorrow [on January 25] and the new cabinet will be submitted. Parliamentary committees will then have four days to consider the new cabinet and a confidence vote will then follow,” Khuroshvili said.
As the new cabinet has yet to be nominated, only speculation rife about the issue.
At least one newcomer, Sandro Kvitashvili, is expected to join the cabinat. A long-time acquaintance of Gurgenidze, Kvitashvili, with a healthcare background, is tipped to become Minister for Healthcare and Social Issues.
There are two other possible newcomers on the list as well – Ghia Nodia, head of an influential think-tank, Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD), who according to as of yet unconfirmed media reports has been offered the Education portfolio, and Temur Iakobashvili, an executive vice-president of an influential think-tank, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS). Iakobashvili has already confirmed that he was offered the post of the state minister for conflict resolution issues.
Davit Bakradze, the current holder of the office, is, according to media reports, slated to become the new foreign minister, replacing Gela Bezhuashvili. The Foreign Ministry confirmed on January 24 that Bezhuashvili would no longer lead the ministry.
Bezhuashvili is expected to become secretary of the National Security Council, replacing Alexander Lomaia, who will be given a diplomatic posting in the UK. Bezhuashvili served as NSC secretary for about four months in 2005.
Although Mikheil Saakashvili said in December during the election campaign that Eka Tkeshelashvili, the justice minister, would not be affected in any reshuffle, latest reports suggest she may not be so secure in her posiition.
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili – a key Saakashvili ally – and Koba Subeliani, the minister for refugees and accommodation, are expected to retain their positions.
Minister for Culture and Sports Goka Gabashvili is expected to be replaced either by his deputy, Nika Vacheishvili, or Davit Lortkipanidze, the director of the Georgian National Museum.
Zurab Melikishvili, the governor of Kvemo Kartli region, reports suggest, will be made Minister of Environment Protection, replacing Davit Chantladze. State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Issues Giorgi Baramidze is tipped to become the first Vice-Premier.
Other cabinet appointments remain a mystery, with even the media, normally willing to speculate on most things, in the dark.
The only hard information on the expected cabinet reshiffle came with the announcement that Giorgi Arveladze, the economy minister, would, quit, not only the cabinet, but politics as well. Eka Sharashidze, the current head of the president’s administration, is thought to be a likely replacement.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
