Parliament will give confidence vote to Cabinet on Friday

Georgia’s Parliament will vote whether or not approve the renewed Cabinet on Friday, May 8.

The date was set after President Giorgi Margvelashvili sent the renewed composition of the Cabinet to Parliament for approval this afternoon.

The new Cabinet included three new ministers - Tinatin Khidasheli as Minister of Defence, Tariel Khechikashvili as Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs and Gigla Abulashvili as Minister of Environment Protection.

Today a Parliament bureau meeting discussed when to convene a special sitting to listen to new Cabinet members and then give a vote of confidence. They chose Thursday, May 7 as the day of listening to Ministers and Friday, May 8 as the day to give a vote of confidence.

A vote of confidence in Georgia’s Cabinet was needed after the country’s Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs resigned on April 29, which saw one-third of the Cabinet be changed in recent months.

Under the Georgian Constitution, if one-third of Ministers are replaced, the Cabinet needs to regain an approval from Parliament.

The ruling Georgian Dream Coalition members and Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili believed the new Cabinet could regain the vote of confidence "easily” and "with no complications”.