National Security Council staff changes ahead

The composition of the National Security Council of Georgia will soon be changed.

The Minister of Finance will no longer be a permanent member of the Council, while the Council will have new permanent members – Parliament Speaker, Chairman of the Defence and Security Committee, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces.

These amendments were considered by the Legal Issues Committee at its second reading yesterday.

According to the bill, permanent members of the National Security Council were: Prime Minister, Parliament Speaker, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs, Chairmen of Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs Committees, National Security Council Secretary and Chief of General Staff.

Meanwhile, the President will be given the right to invite others to attend a session of the National Security Council. If the President wished to invite a member of the Government, he will need to have this agreed by the Prime Minister, and if he decided to invite Parliamentary committee chairmen, he will need to have this agreed by the Parliament Speaker.