Georgian Public Broadcaster board becomes two-chambered

The new Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) Board will have two chambers and a Monitoring Council for internal control will be created.

According to an amendment, the functions of the current board members will prevent them to make any illegal and unsubstantial decisions and will provide effective internal monitoring for the new Board of Trustees and general director by timely informing the public on financial, personnel, or other problems.

The draft law about the following changes was prepared by Majority Parliament Members Gia Zhorzholiani, Nukri Kantaria, Irakli Chikovani and Zviad Kvachantriadze.

Another Majority MP Eliso Chapidze noted the Monitoring Council will have important functions and will monitor the whole Public Broadcaster.

"The Board of Trustees becomes two-chambered. It is important that the Monitoring Council will have some important rights. It can request any information with regard to the budget. In addition, the Council has the right to raise the issue of the general director’s liability. The reimbursement of the Monitoring Council will be 80 percent of the Board’s salary,” she said.

The draft law will be discussed at the Parliament’s Education Committee today.

On April 11, the Constitutional Court upheld a lawsuit by active GPB board members against Georgian Parliament, according to which current board members will not be fired before their contracts are terminated.

Currently, the GPB Board is composed by seven members. Three of them (Mamuka Pashuashvili, Davit Kandelaki and Board Chairman Emzar Goguadze) are eligible to remain in their position until 2017 and four others (Zurab Davitashvili, Nino Danelia, Giorgi Meladze and Natalia Dvali) are due to end their duties in 2015.

In the meantime, according to the amendment which has now been scrapped, seven new GPB Board members have already been elected. This process has been ongoing and will embark on the second round of approval for the remaining two members to be appointed.