Disagreement in the Ministry of Culture
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Tuesday, February 11
Minister of Culture of Georgia, Guram Odisharia, wants to dismiss his first deputy, Marine Mizandari. Odisharia has already sent a request to Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili in a bid to dismiss the First Deputy Mizandari on February 5. However, the PM has not taken a decision yet.
Odisharia explains his decision with the fact that, Mizandari “is not able to work with the team.”
“She is making decisions without consultation with me or anyone else. Her actions have a bad influence on the work of the whole ministry. This is the reason why we addressed the PM and asked for Mizandari’s dismissal,” Odisharia stressed.
The official reason of Mizandari’s possible dismissal, stated in the letter to the PM, is her insubordination and failure to comply with instructions, but the First Deputy Minister thinks that the controversy was caused by a disagreement on several issues including the Sakdrisi Gold Mine case and human resources policy within the ministry.
Mizandari was not at all surprised by the minister’s decision. "Odisharia had warned me if I did not change my approach, he would take extreme measures,” she stated.
According to the first deputy minister of culture, she will not resign upon her decision. “I think that I am exactly where I belong. I am superwising two spheres in which I have huge experience. I am a cultural heritage specialist. I am an art historian. This is my field. I will stay on this position, until the PM makes his decision,” Mizandari stressed.
Currently, Mizandari is executing her duties at the ministry. She said if she was dismissed, she would continue working on EU projects in different countries as an international expert and if the minister’s request was not approved by the PM, she would stay at her current post.
