Georgia's Parliament approves new Government

Parliament of Georgia has approved a renewed Cabinet after the country's legislative body spent a full day debating the changes.

Eighty nine Members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favour of the new Government while opposition party United National Movement (UNM) did not support the Prime Minister's new Cabinet of ministers and left the session in protest after UNM leader David Bakradze finished his speech.

"We are a constructive but critical opposition, you are just mixing the terms 'non-constructive' and 'critical' with each other," Bakradze said as he addressed his colleagues from majority party Georgian Dream after they assessed UNM statements as "non-constructive" during the debates.

Earlier in the day, during the plenary session PM Irakli Garibashvili said he was reassured UNM was "absolutely non-constructive and demagogical". The PMs remark came after one UNM member became interested in who advised the PM about the leader's speeches.

Seven new Ministers were appointed this week following a major Governmental shake-up, where five previous Ministers were dismissed and two were moved into other duties.

The country’s new Ministers are:

• Giorgi Mgebrishvili, former Kvemo Kartli regional Governor, as Minister of Corrections

• Davit Shavliashvili, former head of Roads Department, as Minister of Infrastructure;

• Otar Danelia, ex-Deputy Minister, as Minister of Agriculture;

• Gela Dumbadze, ex-Deputy Minister, as State Minister for Diaspora Issues; 

• Mikheil Giorgadze, an economist by education with a rich cultural background, as Minister of Culture and Monument Protection.

The PM also moved two Ministers into other duties. 

He introduced:

• Sozar Subari, former Minister of Corrections, as Minister Refugees and Accommodation; 

• Elguja Khokrishvili, former Infrastructure Minister, as Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.