Parliament: Competition will fill Georgian Public Broadcaster Board vacancies

Georgian Parliament has launched a competition that will select people to fill the remaining vacancies on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) Board of Trustees.

Parliament has been unable to agree on nine people to make up the Board, and on Tuesday, launched a contest for members of a Commission to select people to fill the five empty positions.

Davit Usupashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament said the Commission would decide who was selected on GPB’s board. Those interested in standing for the Board have until March 26 to send in an application.

The competition comes after Parliament failed twice to fully compose the Board since discussions began in late December. Currently five seats of nine are still vacant.

Those tasked with choosing the GPB board are: journalists Ia Antadze and Nino Bekishvili, Civil Development Agency executive director Zviad Devdariani, lawyer Natia Kapanadze, Regional Broadcasters Association executive director Natia Kuprashvili, head of Public Movement "Multinational Georgia" Arnold Stefanian, philosopher Zaza Shatirishvili, journalist Zviad Koridze and philologist Tamaz Jologua.

This Commission, who was selected by Parliament and comprised of media and civil society representatives, was widely hailed as transparent and professional. Earlier, rejection of most of the candidates selected caused many media and civil society groups to protest.

Usupashvili said the competition would provide a "clear and unambiguous answer” to the disagreements surrounding the GPB Board's creation.

He said the Commission will adopt regulations approved by Parliament, which would be submitted by the candidates and their evaluation concepts.

The procedure for selecting new GPB Board members will be held in two stages. Firstly candidates will be selected in accordance with their qualification, they will discuss the concept of GPB’s development before taking part in a public interview.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili believed the recruitment process of the GPB Board of Trustees was transparent.

He said the Commission was staffed by "competent people” and no one had any questions, at a meeting with students at Tbilisi State University today.

"The Government has no interest in controlling independent media,” Garibashvili stated.

In total nine trustees must be chosen for the GPB Board. Two will be named by the Ombudsman, three by the Parliamentary majority, three by the Parliamentary minority (1/4 of MPs) and one by the Supreme Court of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara.

The amendments to the Law on Broadcasting, upon which the board of the GPB is being formed, have been approved by the Georgian Parliament after a three-month discussion in May, 2013.

The amendments were initiated by the Georgian Dream coalition. The changes are believed to ensure more financial transparency for television broadcasters.