Georgian Parliament approves new Prime Minister, Cabinet
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Georgian Parliament Members (MPs) have approved and given their vote of confidence to the new Prime Minister and updated list of Cabinet members with 86 votes in favour and 28 against after a long discussion.
The vote of confidence began at 1 pm on Tuesday however talks began the day before, and the discussion finally ended more than 12 hours later.
Georgia’s new Prime Minister is Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
There is only one new member on the list of the renewed Georgian Government: Mikheil Janelidze as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This post fell vacant after former Foreign Minister Kvirikashvili was advanced as the Prime Minister.
All the other members of Cabinet retained their roles in the Government.
Today MPs also gave a vote of confidence to the Government's renewed Action Plan titled 'For strong, democratic and united Georgia'. The 74-page document presented the program of Georgia’s future development until 2020.
All Ministers had discussed the Action Plan in their spheres with various Parliament Committees and all fractions on the day before.
The ruling coalition has the majority in Parliament so the result of voting was not unexpected.
The candidate for Prime Minister and the updated Cabinet of Ministers needed to be confirmed by at least 76 votes out of the 150-seat Parliament. The Georgian Dream coalition holds 85 seats in the legislative body.
A vote of confidence in Georgia’s Cabinet was needed after the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili resigned on December 23.
Under the Georgian Constitution, when the Prime Minister resigns, the power of Cabinet Ministers – 19 ministers of Georgia – is automatically suspended and the Cabinet needs to regain approval from Parliament.
Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who served as the country’s Foreign Minister, might step up as Georgia’s new Prime Minister.For the majority of Kvirikashvili’s career he has been involved in the financial and economics sector in state and private businesses.
Georgia’s First Vice Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze might step up as the country’s new Foreign Minister since Giorgi Kvirikashvili – Prime Minister candidate – presented him to this role today.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has resigned. Garibashvili made the announcement about his surprise resignation at 8pm this evening. He addressed the nation from the Government Administration's building.
According to Georgian legislation, when a Prime Minister resigns constitutional procedures must be followed.
Defence Minister candidate Tinatin Khidasheli stated yesterday that all Georgian soldiers should have a right to vote and they must not be restricted to fulfill the fundamental right.
Tbilisi will maintain its pro-European course, continue its efforts to get closer to NATO and have "pragmatic cooperation” with Russia with the precondition that the latter respects Georgia’s sovereignty.
The candidate Ministry of Finance Nodar Khaduri plans to introduce "several important reforms” next year, including simplifying the Tax Code and creating better conditions to the business society.
The Ministry of Justice plans to introduce twenty legislative reforms before the legislative body next year, Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani stated when answering the lawmakers’ questions today in Kutaisi Parliament.
Giorgi Mgebrishvili stated today that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would be focused on fighting domestic violence and violence against women if he could continue his work as a minister after tomorrow’s voting in the legislative body.
The candidate for the post of Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikheil Janelidze, has stated that his "key priority” if approved on the new position would be defending the country "from major foreign threats.”
Georgia’s new Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili seeks society’s "maximal engagement” in the process of making important decisions. Today the Georgian Cabinet held its first meeting with Kvirikashvili in the role of Prime Minister.
The United States (US) will help Georgia be a successful country. These words were spoken by the US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly as he met Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili today. This was the first time the pair met after Kvirikashvili took the post of the Prime Minister on December 30, 2015.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has congratulated Giorgi Kvirikashvili on becoming Prime Minister of Georgia in a special letter of congratulations. Merkel wished Kvirikashvili a successful term and noted: "I’ll be happy if I see you in Berlin soon”.
The new Georgian PM has received letters of congratulations from his Chinese, Hungarian, Czech, and Ukrainian counterparts, also acting Prime Minister of Moldova and French and German Foreign Ministers.
Georgia’s Prime Minister has raised his online profile by joining Twitter. PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili joined Twitter last night. In less than 14 hours he already has more than a hundred followers.
The significance of non-governmental organisations’ (NGOs) involvement in decision-making processes and the prioritisation of state-important projects were in focus at today’s meeting between the Prime Minister of Georgia and civil sector representatives.
Visa-liberalisation with the European Union (EU), development of Silk Road projects, Euro-Atlantic integration, sovereignty and territorial integrity-related issues and enforcement of Georgia’s strategic partnership with the United States (US) were identified as the Foreign Ministry’s priority areas for 2016.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikahsvili has visited a new, multi-functional trade centre in the western Samegrelo region where dozens of business have opened their shops and trading areas.