Gov’t changes rules as it is afraid of unbiased Ombudsperson – opposition politician Shavgulidze

The Georgian Government is afraid that the public defender elected according to the existing rules, like incumbent Nino Lomjaria, will act independently and that is why the party is motivated to change regulations, opposition politician Shalva Shavgulidze told Front News on Thursday. 

The politician claimed that the ruling party was “creating the illusion of democracy, and in fact, it was providing more opportunities to elect the Government’s preferred candidate”. 

“The current procedure for both nomination and election of the public defender is completely satisfactory, as a result of which we received Nino Lomjaria – a public defender who was not under the influence of the ruling political force..This is what worried the government. If the election takes place in this manner, it is possible that the future public defender will be an independent figure”, Shavgulidze said. 

According to the initiative proposed by the head of the ruling party in Parliament, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the candidature of the public defender would  be nominated not by the ruling party, but by non-governmental organizations.

Shavgulidze says that the Government  was likely to approve the candidate, who would be nominated by the NGOs affiliated with the ruling party.