GD nominates Defense Minister Gharibashvili as PM candidate for second term
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, February 19
The Georgian Dream ruling party has nominated former PM, current Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili, 39, as prime ministerial candidate earlier yesterday, following the resignation of Giorgi Gakharia over UNM chair Nika Melia’s coming sentencing on 18th of February.
Gharibashvili served as a prime minister between November 2013 and December 2015. He was the second PM under the Georgian Dream leadership, replacing the founder of the party Bidzina Ivanishvili.
In his resignation address in 2015 Garibashvili said that ‘posts are temporary. The only thing permanent is God and the homeland. So I have decided to leave my post.’ Garibashvili returned to politics in March 2019 as the political secretary of the ruling GD party. In September 2019, he was appointed as the country’s defence minister.
MP Kobakhidze hailed Minister Garibashvili as a ‘professional with a distinguished experience, who can successfully lead the government and tackle challenges facing our country,’ adding that GD’s Political Council unanimously decided to put his candidacy forward.
GD leader Mamuka Mdinaradze does not see a connection between Gharibashvili's appointing as PM and the ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili's involvement in it. He noted that Gharibashvili has a guaranteed support in the Parliament of Georgia. Mdinaradze recalled that Gharibashvili’s name is associated with many successful projects, including association agreement and emphasized the success of activities carried out by the Ministry of Defense in terms of Nato cooperation. The MP believes that Gharibashvili will play an important role when Georgia announces its desire to join the EU in 2024.
Garibashvili himself named the COVID-19 pandemic and unemployment as the two most pressing issues for the new government to address. “we will soon restore order and balance, that is important for the country to function normally within the frames of the constitution,” he said.
Garibashvili joined politics in late 2011 and served as the Interior Minister for a year before becoming the PM in November 2013 when Ivanishvili stepped down. In December 2015, Garibashvili resigned and left the party. Before commencing a political career, the PM-nominee worked in Bidzina Ivanishvili’s companies for 8 years in the business sector. He majored in International Relations at Tbilisi State University before studying Political Sciences at Sorbonne University in France.
Back in 2015, analysts linked Garibashvili’s resignation to sinking confidence ratings of the government, as well as the need to refresh the cabinet ahead of the 2016 Parliamentary elections.
As the ex-PM explained, he considers it unjust to arrest the UNM's chairman as it poses a risk of political escalation. Gakharia that he could not reach an agreement with the team on Melia’s case. “I have announced my resignation in the hope to reduce polarization and to deescalate the situation,” he tweeted after the press briefing. In response, the MIA temporarily postponed the planned detention of Melia.
The PM's resignation means that his cabinet is also suspended and the parliament will have to approve the new PM and cabinet within the coming two weeks. If parliament fails to do so, the president will dismiss the parliament and snap parliamentary elections will be scheduled.
