Employees of Tigva Municipal Administration Petition to Human Rights Organizations for Help

Lado Bichashvili, Shida Kartli

“We appeal to the Public Defender, Parliament of Georgia and nongovernmental organizations to study the fact of our breached rights,” five employees of Tigva municipal administration said, who passed second stage of the test-exams in the ongoing competition in the local self-governance but based on the decision of the commission members, they were expelled from the competition after interviews. The employees blame the commission chair Spartak Petriashvili, who is Tigva municipality governor too, in nepotism. 

Giorgi Nadiradze, employee of Tigva municipal administration: “We passed 50% barrier at the test-exams; I personally collected 71 points; during the interview the commission was very incompetent and they said we had not passed the interview-stage.”

Merab Jamurashvili, employee of the Tigva municipal administration: “We will appeal the decision everywhere. We were fired illegally and must restore our rights. We petition to the single-seat MP from our district, Public Defender, NGOs, and Prosecutor’s Office to get interested why we were sacked.”

Personnel of the Tigva municipal administration are divided into two parts; one part of the service units operates in Kareli district administration’s office and the second in Tbilisi. Tigva district governor Spartak Petriashvili performs his duties in the capital, who said the accusations against him were absurd. 

Spartak Petriashvili, Tigva district governor: “High scores at the test-exams do not mean anything. They failed during interviews. I cannot do anything; it was the commission’s decision. Our 11 employees failed in the test-exams and I hope they do not blame me in it too. I cannot do anything. The commission made final decision.”

Five employees request video-recordings of the interviews at the Tigva municipal administration; they intend to submit a lawsuit at the court. The competition lasts before December, 2014. Those employees, who could not pass interview-stage of the competition, will not have labor contracts extended from 2015.