New Public TV Board Expected This Week

A shortlist of candidates for the public TV nine-member board of trustees is expected to be unveiled following consultations between the opposition and the government no later than February 27, Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze said on Monday.

“We want to agree on candidates who have the confidence of both the authorities and the opposition. Then it is desirable to agree on both a board chairman and a general director of the public TV,” Burjanadze said.

A shortlist of 27 people will be compiled from 235 applicants. Parliament will then pick nine to form the board, which in turn will elect a new general director, replacing Tamar Kintsurashvili. Burjanadze said if agreement were reached with the opposition, the shortlist would be unveiled “tomorrow, or at the latest, the day after tomorrow.”

A meeting between opposition and ruling party negotiators is expected to take place later on Monday.

Politicians from the nine-party opposition coalition said they already had preferences for the public TV board, but refused to name them.