Margvelashvili’s substitute named
Tuesday, July 16
Acting Deputy Education Minister, Tamar Sanikidze will replace Minister Giorgi Margvelashvili on the position of Education Minister. A statement concerning the issue was made by Margvelashvili for the Guria News late on July 14.
From 2010 to 2012, Sanikidze worked at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) as the Financial Director. She was recommended the position of deputy education minister as soon as Margvelashvili was appointed as minister of education.
Explaining why he had chosen Sanikidze’s candidacy, Margvelashvili said almost all the projects launched in the Ministry during the last 8 months have been carried out by Sanikidze. Praising Sanikidze’s professionalism, Margvelashvili said he is aware of her skills and abilities, as well as her leadership qualities.
Georgian Dream coalition MP, Eliso Chapidze, is sure that Sanikidze will be a very good Minister.
“Tamar Sanikidze has a relationship with the parliament and the ministry and she understands very well the challenges the Georgian education ministry is facing at the current moment. Thus, I suppose that she will be make a remarkable minister and I am very glad that she was named to the position,” Chapidze said.
Member of the parliamentary minority, Levan Bezhashvili, thinks that the post of the Education minister should have been occupied by an individual who had more experience in politics.
“Tamar Sanikidze is a qualified civil servant. However, the post should have been taken by a person who has a concrete vision regarding the Georgian education system; someone who will carry out policy and establish the policy…thus, I thought that the position of the education minister is very important and requires a person who is coming from politics, who would look at the issues from a political point of view,” Bezhashvili stated.
Analyst Vazha Beridze thinks Sanikidze’s promotion is a sign of nepotism. According to the analyst, everyone who either worked at the Ivanishvili affiliated Qartu Bank were given good jobs, while now it GIPA's turn– previously headed by Margvelashvili.
Beridze is confident that the parliament will approve Sanikidze’s candidacy. He said it is good that a female will be the minister, but it is not good that she is not very well known in public – no one knows about Sanikidze’s views, especially over the reforms in the educational system.
