President applies to Parliament to support revised Government

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili will apply to Parliament to issue a vote of confidence in the revised cabinet after the Prime Minister announced a major reshuffle today where five Ministers were dismissed and two others were moved into other duties.

At a special press conference Margvelashvili said according to the Georgian Constitution, if one third of Cabinet members (more than five) were changed, the President should apply to Parliament to give a new vote of confidence for the changed Cabinet.

In today’s case, seven Ministers were either dismissed or reshuffled into new roles.

"When one third of Cabinet is dismissed the question is whether there remains trust in the Cabinet by the Parliament of Georgia. Thus, the President has to apply to Parliament to give a new vote of confidence for the revised Government one week after the Prime Minister presents the new Cabinet members,” Margvelashvili said.

The entire revised Cabinet must gain one third of total MP votes (more than 76) in order to be approved by Parliament.

Meanwhile, PM Garibashvili has seven days from today to name the new ministerial nominations.

Garibashvili said his decision to reshuffle the Cabinet was "to further increase efficiency of the Government”.

"More effort is needed to deliver the goods and maintain people’s trust, and a reshuffle is needed to make this happen,” he said.