Government reshuffle - new ministers and old problems

Georgian opposition members believe that the Prime Minister already offended the former Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili due to his statements.

After the changes in government on September 1, when Minister of Foreign Affairs Tamar Beruchashvili was replaced by Minister of Economy Giorgi Kvirikashvili, PM Irakli Gharibashvili said that Kvirikashvili would decide where Beruchashvili would continue to work.

“With this statement, Gharibashvili insulted his own team member. This is a very negative tendency,” Member of Free Democrats (FD) Nino Goguadze said.

Beruchashvili was promoted to the post of Foreign Minister after the governmental scandal in 2014.

That time she served as a deputy of then Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze.

When former Defence Minister Irakli Alasania, who is Panjikidze’s brother-in-law, was dismissed by Garibashvili because of his statements concerning presumable changes in the Georgia’s foreign orientation, Panjikidze also quit her post.

The same was done by her deputies, Beruchashvili among them.

However, later she changed her mind and after negotiations with the PM she was appointed as a Foreign Minister.

Several analysts, Gia Khukhashvili among them, did not give a high score to this behavior from a moral perspective.

Analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze stated that the PM did not have many nominees for the post that time.

In her latest comment, Berushashvili stated that she has many offers and would decide where to continue her 20-year career.

She could not see anything dramatic in her dismissal.

Beruchashvili did not give a clear response whether she will stay in the current government or not.

The greater part of analysts and the opposition stressed that Kvirikashvili was a good Minister of Economics, who was not afraid of admitting mistakes and shortcomings, while Beruchashvili was described as an ordinary minister, without many fruitful results.

It is regrettable that Georgia still continues the “tradition” of fast reshuffles and appointing such ministers on different posts who had no previous experience in the fields.

Herewith, it will be uncomfortable for foreigners to meet and cooperate with new ministers every five or six months. It only promotes the feeling of instability.

On the other hand changing of certain ministers might cause no effect, as if a country needs to achieve success the country’s leadership should have definite domestic and foreign policies.

The country success is based on a joint effort. One of such example is Giorgi Kvirikashvili himself.

He has a huge experience in economic field and was recognized as one of the distinguished ministers. However, country’s economy still collapses and a big majority of Georgians still live in extreme poverty.