Seven Ministers dismissed in Georgian Government reshuffle

The Government of Georgia is undergoing a major reshuffle after the head of the Government dismissed seven Ministers today.

At a special press conference this morning Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced he had dismissed five Ministers and moved two others into other duties. 

He said the Georgian people had reaffirmed their support for the Georgian Dream Government and more effort was needed so the Government could "deliver the goods and maintain people’s trust”, and a reshuffle was needed to make this happen.

Those who were dismissed from their duties were:

• Minister of Agriculture Shalva Pipia 
• Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Khatuna Gogaladze 
• Minister Refugees and Accommodation Davit Darakhvelidze 
• Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Guram Odisharia 
• State Minister of Georgia for Diaspora Issues Konstantine Surguladze 

 Those who were reshuffled into other position were:

• Minister of Correction of Georgia Sozar Subari
• Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Elguja Khokrishvili

Garibashvili explained his decision was made because Georgia needed to "reset” itself and "enter a new reality" to advance the country further.

"I want to tell you why I have made this decision. A number of events have unfolded in our country in the last two months," Garibashvili said.

As you know, we have recently finalised the landmark deal with the EU and by doing this we have started a new era in our history. We have also recently held the local elections, and for the first time in our history, we have conducted extremely democratic run-off elections which put our country to the test.

We fortunately succeeded in passing this test too and in this way we once again confirmed the Georgian Dream Government has the full support and confidence of the population, which has given us a vote of confidence. It is our responsibility to meet this great trust and in order to fulfill all our promises and objectives, we must invest more energy and redouble efforts to deliver the goods and maintain the people’s trust. And precisely this has pushed me to enter a new reality and to restructure the Government.

The Prime Minister said changes were necessary and future changes may be expected.

Subari, who was dismissed from his role as Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance Prison Systems Minister, will take up the post of Minister for Internally Displaced Persons and Accommodation, replacing Davit Darakhvelidze.

Elguja Khokrishvili will leave her duties as Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development and take up the role of Minister of Environment Protection, replacing Khatuna Gogaladze.

Meanwhile, the renewed Cabinet must now gain a vote of confidence from the Parliament of Georgia. Under the Georgian Constitution, if a one-third (more than 5 Ministers) of Cabinet members are changed, the President should apply to Parliament to give a new vote of confidence for the revised Government in a week.