The News in Brief
Thursday, September 24
"There is danger we might get pro-Russian forces in parliament in 2016"
According to the Georgian Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli, the Warsaw summit is of greatest significance as it coincides with the 2016 parliamentary elections in Georgia.
"The Warsaw summit is of greatest significance as it coincides with the 2016 parliamentary elections in Georgia. If decisions beneficial for Georgia are not made at Warsaw NATO summit, we might get pro-Russian political forces in the Parliament. This expectation really exists and surveys, conducted in the country say the same. This is democracy, though, unlike our predecessors we do not prohibit political parties and do not arrest our opponents,” Georgia’s Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli has declared on BBC’s HARDtalk program. (Pia.ge)
Russia and South Ossetia to sign nine joint documents
Russia and occupied South Ossetia will sign nine joint documents till the end of the year. As the Tass news agency reports, the Deputy Head of the Russian Government, Alexander Khloponin, declared this while opening the 14th intergovernmental session between Russia and so-called South Ossetia.
The documents will be signed within the framework of the so-called Treaty on Liaison and Integration.
“Nine joint documents are planned to be signed within the framework of the treaty which are aimed at further development of our relations in social and economic fields. In particular, these are education, scientific, cultural and other fields,” Khloponin remarked adding Russia remains South Ossetia’s main ally. (IPN)
Law on Banking Supervisory Agency Challenged in Constitutional Court
Lawmakers from the opposition UNM and Free Democrats parties have lodged a joint complaint with the Constitutional Court arguing that the newly adopted law, establishing the Financial Supervisory Agency, is unconstitutional.
As an interim measure, the applicants have also requested the Constitutional Court to suspend enforcement of the disputed law, pending court’s final verdict.
The Financial Supervisory Agency has been established after banking oversight functions were removed from the National Bank of Georgia (NBG); the head of the agency and its board members were approved by the Parliament last week.
Bill, removing banking supervisory functions from NBG and transferring them to a separate agency, was adopted by the Parliament in July, but it drew criticism from international financial institutions, business associations, opposition parties, a group of civil society organizations and from the central bank itself.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili vetoed the bill in late July, but the Parliament overturned it on September 3.
In their joint complaint, filed on September 22, the opposition lawmakers argue that the removal of banking supervisory functions from the central bank deprives the latter of its constitutionally defined goal of supporting “stable functioning of the financial sector.” The applicants also claim that the disputed law violates constitution in terms of presidential powers as the president has no role in selecting and appointing board members of the new agency, which is in charge of banking system oversight. (Civil.ge)
Statistical Data on Gender Equality in Civil Service revealed
The Insitute of Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has been researching statistics reflecting the picture of gender equality in the civil service for two years. Within the auspices of the research, the institute aimed at ascertaining to what degree gender equality is observed in the civil service. The report presents detailed data on gender ratio of civil servants employed at the ministries, ministry sub-entities, independent legal entities of public law (LEPLs) and local self-government institutions.
The survey reflects statistical data on gender equality in the civil service for March 2015.
Data received from public institutions and information processed from their official web-pages highlights that total number of 72 726 servants are employed in 141 public institutions (including law enforcement agencies). Out of the civil servants employed by 142 public institutions, 27 383 work for Government Administration and Ministries (including state ministries); 407 are employed at the Government and ministries of Autonomous Republic of Ajara; 33 117 work in ministry sub-entities (56 institutions); 5 174 – at local self-government institutions (42 at city hall and city council); 5 488 – at LEPLs and independent commissions (17 institutions); 1 157 are employed as the staff of the Parliament, or work for the offices of Majority MPs. In addition, it should be emphasized that, the data presented reflects the picture of gender equality in 141 public entities only (including Law enforcement agencies) for March 2015.
The research showed that the number of male and female civil servants in Georgia, excluding law enforcement agencies, is nearly equal. It should also be mentioned that the picture on gender equality observed in the report of IDFI “Gender Equality at Civil Service” almost a year ago has not undergone any considerable changes. Different is the observation in case of servants employed at managerial positions, where the representation of men is higher than the women. Particularly, out of 773 employees working in Government Administration and ministries on managerial positions, 333 are female while 473 are male. Out of 1 440 employees working on managerial positions in ministry sub-entities, 571 are women and 869 are men. A total of 348 civil servants hold managerial positions at LEPLs, of which 127 are women and 221 are men. In local self-government (ie. city hall, city council) out of 1049 managerial positions, only 303 are held by females. The number of female workers employed at managerial positions at the government and ministries of Autonomous Republic of Ajara equals to 30 out of 116 managerial positions. (IDFI)
According to the Georgian Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli, the Warsaw summit is of greatest significance as it coincides with the 2016 parliamentary elections in Georgia.
"The Warsaw summit is of greatest significance as it coincides with the 2016 parliamentary elections in Georgia. If decisions beneficial for Georgia are not made at Warsaw NATO summit, we might get pro-Russian political forces in the Parliament. This expectation really exists and surveys, conducted in the country say the same. This is democracy, though, unlike our predecessors we do not prohibit political parties and do not arrest our opponents,” Georgia’s Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli has declared on BBC’s HARDtalk program. (Pia.ge)
Russia and South Ossetia to sign nine joint documents
Russia and occupied South Ossetia will sign nine joint documents till the end of the year. As the Tass news agency reports, the Deputy Head of the Russian Government, Alexander Khloponin, declared this while opening the 14th intergovernmental session between Russia and so-called South Ossetia.
The documents will be signed within the framework of the so-called Treaty on Liaison and Integration.
“Nine joint documents are planned to be signed within the framework of the treaty which are aimed at further development of our relations in social and economic fields. In particular, these are education, scientific, cultural and other fields,” Khloponin remarked adding Russia remains South Ossetia’s main ally. (IPN)
Law on Banking Supervisory Agency Challenged in Constitutional Court
Lawmakers from the opposition UNM and Free Democrats parties have lodged a joint complaint with the Constitutional Court arguing that the newly adopted law, establishing the Financial Supervisory Agency, is unconstitutional.
As an interim measure, the applicants have also requested the Constitutional Court to suspend enforcement of the disputed law, pending court’s final verdict.
The Financial Supervisory Agency has been established after banking oversight functions were removed from the National Bank of Georgia (NBG); the head of the agency and its board members were approved by the Parliament last week.
Bill, removing banking supervisory functions from NBG and transferring them to a separate agency, was adopted by the Parliament in July, but it drew criticism from international financial institutions, business associations, opposition parties, a group of civil society organizations and from the central bank itself.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili vetoed the bill in late July, but the Parliament overturned it on September 3.
In their joint complaint, filed on September 22, the opposition lawmakers argue that the removal of banking supervisory functions from the central bank deprives the latter of its constitutionally defined goal of supporting “stable functioning of the financial sector.” The applicants also claim that the disputed law violates constitution in terms of presidential powers as the president has no role in selecting and appointing board members of the new agency, which is in charge of banking system oversight. (Civil.ge)
Statistical Data on Gender Equality in Civil Service revealed
The Insitute of Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has been researching statistics reflecting the picture of gender equality in the civil service for two years. Within the auspices of the research, the institute aimed at ascertaining to what degree gender equality is observed in the civil service. The report presents detailed data on gender ratio of civil servants employed at the ministries, ministry sub-entities, independent legal entities of public law (LEPLs) and local self-government institutions.
The survey reflects statistical data on gender equality in the civil service for March 2015.
Data received from public institutions and information processed from their official web-pages highlights that total number of 72 726 servants are employed in 141 public institutions (including law enforcement agencies). Out of the civil servants employed by 142 public institutions, 27 383 work for Government Administration and Ministries (including state ministries); 407 are employed at the Government and ministries of Autonomous Republic of Ajara; 33 117 work in ministry sub-entities (56 institutions); 5 174 – at local self-government institutions (42 at city hall and city council); 5 488 – at LEPLs and independent commissions (17 institutions); 1 157 are employed as the staff of the Parliament, or work for the offices of Majority MPs. In addition, it should be emphasized that, the data presented reflects the picture of gender equality in 141 public entities only (including Law enforcement agencies) for March 2015.
The research showed that the number of male and female civil servants in Georgia, excluding law enforcement agencies, is nearly equal. It should also be mentioned that the picture on gender equality observed in the report of IDFI “Gender Equality at Civil Service” almost a year ago has not undergone any considerable changes. Different is the observation in case of servants employed at managerial positions, where the representation of men is higher than the women. Particularly, out of 773 employees working in Government Administration and ministries on managerial positions, 333 are female while 473 are male. Out of 1 440 employees working on managerial positions in ministry sub-entities, 571 are women and 869 are men. A total of 348 civil servants hold managerial positions at LEPLs, of which 127 are women and 221 are men. In local self-government (ie. city hall, city council) out of 1049 managerial positions, only 303 are held by females. The number of female workers employed at managerial positions at the government and ministries of Autonomous Republic of Ajara equals to 30 out of 116 managerial positions. (IDFI)