State institutions tailored to suit individual officials, says For Georgia’s MP Shalva Kereselidze on ministry merger

“It has become unequivocally clear that state institutions are being tailored to suit individual officials, their personal comfort, and private ambitions,” MP Shalva Kereselidze, a member of the opposition party For Georgia, told the GPB First Channel.

Kereselidze emphasised the need for a regional policy that drives tangible development and delivers practical solutions to local challenges.

“First they split the ministries, and now they are merging them again. Despite the government’s message that the regions represent a priority and a challenge for them, it has become unequivocally clear that state institutions are being tailored to suit individual officials, their comfort, and personal ambitions. It is essential to implement a regional policy focused on driving tangible development and delivering practical solutions. Unfortunately, the government lacks the willingness and desire to do this. All of this was done merely to accommodate specific personalities. They first created the regional ministry for Grigol Liluashvili, whom they later arrested. They intended to introduce the post of State Minister for Mamuka Mdinaradze, but he left politics. Now they are abolishing the regional ministry altogether, along with its infrastructure,” noted Kereselidze.

During a press briefing yesterday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that the position of Regional Minister will be abolished, and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure will be merged back into a single unified ministry. The post of State Minister will also no longer exist.