PM Kobakhidze Nominates Three New Cabinet Members

Outgoing Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the nominations for three ministerial portfolios at a 10 a.m. briefing on November 25: Maka Botchorishvili as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anri Okhanashvili as Minister of Justice, and Davit Songhulashvili as Minister of Environment and Agriculture.

Kobakhidze was tapped to lead the new government by the Georgian Dream party. He made the ministerial nominations ahead of the first session of the Parliament, slated for midday on November 25. The legitimacy of the new parliament is being challenged in the Constitutional Court due to allegations of systemic rigging of the October 26 elections. Many legal experts say the session is illegal before the Court’s final ruling. The four opposition groups won’t join the chamber and said they would reject their mandates in protest.

The nominee, Maka Botchorishvili, served as chair of the European Integration Committee of the outgoing parliament and is slated to replace Ilia Darchiashvili as Foreign Minister.

Anri Okhanashvili, the outgoing chair of the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, is nominated to lead the Ministry of Justice, replacing Rati Bregadze.

The chair of the Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee of the outgoing Parliament, Davit Songhulashvili is nominated to head the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, replacing Otar Shamugia.

Bochorishvili and Okhanashvili lobbied for and voted for the foreign agents’ law and the anti-LGBTI law, both of which were cited as reasons for freezing Georgia’s EU candidacy. Songulashvili did not vote for the foreign agent’s law in the first reading and initially called it a “mistake” in a social media post, which he soon deleted. He voted for that law in the final reading.

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