Parliament Speaker: Georgia’s Interior Ministry needs “systemic change”
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Georgia’s Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili believes reformation of the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) is "inevitable”.
Usupashvili spoke about the need of carrying out major changes within the MIA in a talk-show on Georgia’s Kavkasia TV channel yesterday.
The Parliament Speaker said he was sure the Parliamentary majority would support any changes that would help the MIA turn into a European-style ministry.
"There are no militarised Interior Ministries in Europe,” Usupashvili said.
"There are no Interior Ministries with the website address police.ge in Europe. We have to change the feeling that the MIA is the police.”
Usupashvili said the system where the MIA was associated with the police was created by former Interior Minister Ivane (Vano) Merabishvili, who is currently in prison for fraud and abuse of authority.
"To change this kind of approach towards the MIA, we need to make systemic changes,” the Parliament Speaker said.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced the MIA would undergo the reform process, with one aspect of the reforms enabling the Security Service to be separated from the Ministry.
Georgia’s security services and police will soon be under two different agencies in Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has introduced the country’s Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri as head of the State Security Service, an agency to be established from August 1.