Saakashvili Hails the New Cabinet
President Saakashvili said many members of the new cabinet were ?professionals? and ?independent-minded? individuals, who had no political party affiliation.
The new cabinet is expected to win parliamentary approval on January 31.
?This is a new type of government,? Saakashvili told regional journalists. ?This is the first ever government not based on party-affiliation. Prime Minister[-nominee Lado Gurgenidze] himself has never been affiliated with any political party.?
He said some of the nominees were from, what he called, the ?scientific intelligentsia? and the NGO world.
He said Ghia Nodia had been invited to take on the education ministry job, despite being ?very critical towards us.? He invoked Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s decision to appoint an opponent as Education Minister. ?And he [the first president of Turkey] said: we do not need an education minister who is not an independent person. That is the case with Nodia,? Saakashvili said.
He also said that another cabinet newcomer, Temur Iakobashvili, slated to head up the State Ministry for Reintegration (formerly State Ministry for Conflict Resolution Issues) had also often been critical of the authorities.
?The main criteria in choosing ministers were professionalism and independent-mindedness, so that they would have autonomy in the decision-making process,? Saakashvili said.
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