CDM Calls for Talks to Fill Vacant Seats in Public TV Board

Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), a leading party in the parliamentary minority group, called on the opposition parties and civil society organizations to launch talks on selecting candidates for the seven vacant post of the public TV’s board of trustees.

“We appeal to the opposition parties, non-governmental organizations and all the interested parties to launch consultations about selecting principled, unbiased and professional candidates for these vacant seats,” Levan Vepkhvadze, the vice-speaker of the Parliament from CDM, said.

The Parliament approved on September 22 a proposal with its third and final reading envisaging the increase in number of members of the public broadcaster’s board of trustees from nine to fifteen. Eight seats out of fifteen are currently occupied.
 
In his speech to the Parliament on July 20, President Saakashvili said the opposition would be able to take seats in the board; he also said that one seat should be taken by a civil society representative.

“Our initiative was to re-compose the board under the scheme 7+7+1 [with fourteen seats equally divided between the authorities and opposition nominated members and one to the civil society representative]… I hope there will be political parties, which will be willing to participate in the process of filling the vacant seats in the board,” Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary chairman, said on September 29.

The 7+7+1 scheme, however, can not be implemented, as the board already has eight members.

The President also spoke about readiness to give more authority to the board in his speech to the Parliament on July 20, but no concrete proposal has yet been tabled in this regard. The board of trustees has little say in the broadcaster’s editorial policy. Its function is limited with only setting the broadcaster’s programming priorities in general. 

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