Head of anti-corruption agency “mustn’t be appointed” by PM – For Georgia’s Kemoklidze

The head of the anti-corruption bureau must not be appointed by the country’s prime minister, a member of the For Georgia opposition party, Kakhaber Kemoklidze, said on Wednesday in response to the bill recently proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, which offers the creation of the anti-corruption agency, whose head would be appointed by the PM from the nominees presented by a competition commission. 

“We ask a very simple question, to whom will this person be loyal – to the population of Georgia, to combat corruption, which is at the systemic level and has already descended from the elite to the average level – or to the PM?””, Kemoklidze asked. 

He also slammed the bill for not granting the investigative function to the agency. 

“Why do we want an anti-corruption agency? If we want to defeat corruption systemically, the head of this agency should be approved by an almost absolute majority of the parliament. He should be accountable to both the ruling party and the opposition. Of course, the head of the anti-corruption agency should not be appointed by the PM under any circumstances,” said Kemoklidze and noted that the ruling power was “unwilling” to defeat corruption. 

Anri Okhanashvili, the ruling party MP chairing the parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, announced the initiation of the bill on Wednesday, claiming that it was part of the European Union’s 12-point conditions for granting Georgia the membership candidate status. 

The MP said that the new agency would supervise the implementation of the document defining the general policy to combat corruption and the national anti-corruption strategy of Georgia, and would also coordinate the activities of appropriate bodies, organisations and officials, with the discussions around the amendments launching next week.