Georgian cabinet and new Prime Minister, Lado Gurgenidze, won confidence vote in the Parliament with 155 votes to 0 on November 22.
Along with Gurgenidze, who replaced Zurab Nogaideli, the new cabinet features only two new ministers. Nino Burjanadze, the Parliamentary Chairperson, said she hoped the cabinet would “seriously be refreshed” after the January 5 early presidential elections.
Maia Miminoshvili, head of the National Assessment and Examination Center, has replaced Alexander Lomaia on the position of Education Minister. Lomaia was appointed as secretary of the Georgian National Security Council.
And Koba Subeliani, chief of Tbilisi Municipality's Public Maintenance Department, has replaced Gia Kheviashvili on the position of Minister for Refugees and Accommodation.
Initially, deputy education minister, Bela Tsipuria was nominated to replace Lomaia, however, Tsipuria declined the offer citing that she did not want to undermine those ongoing projects within the Education Ministry which she was in charge in the capacity of deputy minister.
Maia Miminoshvili, the new Education Minister, said on November 22, that she would maintain continuity of ongoing reforms launched in the education sector during Lomia’s tenure.
Koba Subeliani, the new Minister for Refugees and Accommodation, said on November 22 that he would be engaged in “permanent dialogue” with internally displaced persons to maximally help resolve their problems.
The opposition lawmakers have refused to participate in the voting as they said that all key ministers had retained their posts, which was inadmissible for them.
Meanwhile, Nino Burjanadze, the parliamentary speaker, said that the communication with society should be of vital importance for the cabinet.
“We are not going to turn a blind eye to problems of those people who sincerely expressed their protest on November 2. That [anti-governmental demonstrations] has demonstrated that we should better explain to our citizen all the ongoing reforms… I hope problems existing in the communication with the society will be eradicated,” Burjanadze said.
“I am sure we will have to carry out serious changes not only in the cabinet after the elections, but also in many other spheres. We should not be afraid of these changes,” she added.
