Law-enforcements begin firing of staff

Georgia’s Ministries of Internal Affairs and Defence have announced that they will soon begin firing some of their staff.

Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Mgebrishvili has stated all employees who perform non-essential tasks in the Ministry will be fired.

Meanwhile, 100 people have already been dismissed from the Military Police of the Ministry of Defence.

However, the Ministry’s key figures say the dismissals were not related to the Government-announced 10% decrease in administrative expenses.

The Ministry claims the changes had been planned within a necessary reform.

It was previously stated that dismissals would not be directed towards any law enforcement bodies.

Minister Mgebrishvili, who represents the current ruling Georgian Dream team which has been running Georgia since 2012, now says there are some “useless staff” within the Ministry.

He took the post on August 1, 2015.

It is very obvious that the police, especially the Patrol Police, are not so vigilant to violations, as they used to be.

Herewith, Minister Mgebrishvili announced several days ago that no monthly crime statistics would be published by the Ministry, a directive which was “his personal decision”, as the law does not obliged him to release the data.

He stressed that instead the statistics would be published only at the end of the year.

The Minster’s statement came after the written and verbal statements of the civil sector that the crime rate has increased in Georgia.

The decision has already stirred speculation that the Ministry has something to hide, as previously the body was happy to release such statistics.

Each minister is accountable before the people, and if the people show interest in an issue - especially when the topic concerns every-day life - each Government representative is obliged to take the public demand into account.

Also, people have the right to know what the real developments in the country are.