Cohabitation in Guria

Nino Mshvidobadze, Guria

There are personnel changes in local organizations of the United National Movement [UNM] in Guria region. After the New Year, former or acting governmental officials became leaders of the district organizations of the UNM.

Former Ozurgeti district deputy governor of the UNM Mikheil Gogotishvili became the leader of the local UNM office. In Chokhatauri, acting district governor Dimitry Koripadze became the party leader in the district. Koripadze said UNM office will be open for everybody in Chokhatauri district. Short time ago, Georgian Dream’s member Tamaz Jincharadze was appointed to the position of the Chokhatauri district interim governor. Despite the membership of the opposite party, Koripadze is not going to quit the position of the deputy governor.

As for Lanchkhuti district, here Giorgi Goguadze, former district governor, became the leader of the local organization of the former ruling party. After the New Year, Goguadze was appointed to the position of the executive director and interim district governor Kakha Askurava became the chairman of the UNM office.

We asked Askurava how he was offered to become party worker and he said: “I occupied many leading positions in the previous government; besides I have cooperated with the UNM leaders for many years and they trust me.”

Askurava is a close friend of Nika Gvaramia, former member of the government of Georgia and acting director general of the TV-Company Rustavi 2. In the past, Askurava left Conservative Party based on Gvaramia’s suggestion and after he lost local elections in 2006, he initially occupied the position of the district governor and then of the deputy regional governor. Today he is interim district governor and leader of the UNM’s local office simultaneously. His reply to our question raised some doubts that he feels some responsibility before the former ruling party and we asked him about it though he avoided answering our question.

How legal is it when a public servant is a leader of the district office of any political party? Moreover when he is a senior official – interim district governor? We asked this question to Tamaz Trapaidze, head of Ozurgeti office of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association.

“If an interim district governor simultaneously is a leader of the local office of any party, it does not contradict the law but according to the Law on Public Service, some restrictions are estimated: a public servant cannot use his/her professional position for party activities, she/he cannot make a deal with any entrepreneur, a political party or any other institution either,” Trapaidze clarified.