3 new deputies in Parliament as a result of reshuffle

By Nika Gamtsemlidze

Friday, May 28

Irakali Sesiashvili and Mariam Kvrivishvili were moved to the executive branch

Iago Khvichia said that Mujiri is a close friend of Girchi who helped them achieve their goal and bypass the regulation.

The Parliament today recognized the authority of the deputies to replace the excluded MPs. Irakli Sesiashvili will be replaced by Gela Samkharauli from Georgian Dream, while Mariam Kvrivishvili will be replaced by Khatuna Kvitsiani. As for Girchi, its previous deputy member Salome Mujiri will be replaced by Alexander Rakviashvili.

MPs Irakli Sesiashvili, Mariam Kvrivishvili, and Salome Mujiri were terminated prematurely. The issue was voted on by the parliament on May 25.

Georgian Dream MPs have moved to the executive branch. Sesiashvili has been appointed Adviser to the Prime Minister on Defense and Security, and Kvrivishvili has been appointed Deputy Minister of Economy.

As for Salome Mujiri, she became a member of the Parliament with Girchi's proportional list. Girchi disagreed with gender quotas and the party said that they would include women in the list only for formality. After entering the parliament, Mujiri refused the mandate, which was followed by Alexander Rakviashvili taking her spot.

According to the party leader, Iago Khvichia, Salome Mujiri is their friend who helped them achieve the goal of bypassing the ‘idiotic’ regulation.

The adopted gender quota was supported by the parliament of Georgia to increase the number of women members of the Georgian parliament. While the women’s rights advocates praised the new gender quotas as a ‘victory against Georgia's male-dominated power structure’, others, among them Girchi, said that there was the new regulation is of no good use.

One of the reasons for the adoption of the new law was the fact that the EU-Georgia Association Agreement called for the country to take active steps towards increasing the representation of women in the political life of the decision-making process in the country.

The same regulation was attempted to be adopted in the country previously as well. The changes in the Georgian law will go into effect in 2028, envisaging at least 50 seats in parliament for women.