Georgian President Not to Enjoy Lifetime Personal Guard
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, September 7
Georgian president will no longer be provided with personal lifetime guards as before.
The legal provisions relating to the Special State Protection Service, according to which the president of Georgia is entitled to have a personal guard in the workplace and at any permanent or temporary residence until the end of his life, will be revoked.
Under the current law, even the members of the president's family are entitled to enjoy personal protection during and after the presidential term until the end of the president's life.
The amendments to the Law on the Special State Protection Service read that the President, the Prime Minister and the Parliament Speaker shall be protected for one year after the expiration or termination of their term in office.
Besides, the government will decide if it is necessary to extend the protection of the president or other officials after the one term has expired.
In particular, the Prime Minister, the President and the Speaker of Parliament, as well as their family members, may be granted a guard after the one year term from the expiration or termination of the term in office, if there is evidence that their lives or health are in danger.
Moreover, under the amendments, senior officials will not be entitled to have a state guard if their power is terminated due to a violation of the Constitution or the commission of a crime.
Expert Gia Khukhashvili believes that the decision to abolish the lifetime protection of the president is correct.
He believes that there are no such risks in Georgia to provide officials with personal guards for life.
“Sometimes we have periods when the officials change quite frequently, and it is not correct to provide all of them with personal guards for the whole life. There is no need or risks to maintain such a practice,” the expert says.
