PM GURGENIDZE SUBMITS NEW CABINET TO PARLIAMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TBILISI 000123 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR DAS BRYZA AND EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR GG RU SUBJECT: PM GURGENIDZE SUBMITS NEW CABINET TO PARLIAMENT Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) On January 24, Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze held a press conference and announced President Saakashvili's nominations for his new cabinet of ministers. Gurgenidze submitted the list of nominees to the Georgian Parliament on January 25. Gurgenidze said that the new nominees are inclusive, as they represent "three generations." Saakashvili is attempting to counter allegations that his governing circle is small and out of touch with Georgian society. Gurgenidze said the ministers were nominated based purely on their professionalism and "there was no consideration of party affiliation in the selection." Parliament will have 10 days in which to review and approve the nominees. Both opposition factions in Parliament, the Democratic Front (which includes the Conservatives and Republicans) and the New Rightists/Industrialists, have announced they will boycott the nomination hearings. The opposition parties continue to insist that Saakashvili did not win the January 5 election and his administration constitutes an "illegitimate government." Minister of Foreign Affairs: Davit Bakradze -------------- ¶2. (C) Gela Bezhuashvili is leaving government entirely and will probably go into business in the private sector. Bakradze moves over from State Minister of Conflict Resolution. Bakradze was campaign manager for Saakashvili and has ready access to the President. Bakradze has a background in security issues, having worked on the Georgian National Security Council, and is familiar to Europeans from his chairmanship of the Parliament's Committee on European Integration. Minister of Economy: Yekaterina (Eka) Sharashidze -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Like Bezhuashvili, Giorgi Arveladze is joining the private sector and has extensive business interests. His replacement, Eka Sharashidze, is a dual Georgian-American national, and was the Chief of Staff to President Saakashvili beginning in 2007. She holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy from Harvard and an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is tough-minded and has a reputation for stubbornness. Like Bakradze she is a close advisor of Saakashvili. Head of State Chancellery: Kakha Bendukidze -------------- ¶3. (C) Bendukidze leaves his post as State Minister for Coordination of Economic Reforms. That position was abolished. In his new role, Bendukidze will have much less public visibility, while allowing PM Gurgenidze and the President to have his advice. Bendukidze was unpopular publicly for the free-market economic reforms he promoted, connections to Russian business interests, and desire to privatize as many state assets as possible. State Minister for Diaspora Affairs: Iulon Gagoshidze -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Gagoshidze is a complete newcomer to the cabinet and politics. This new position apparently is dedicated to relations with Georgians living abroad and integrating them into Georgian life and economy. State Minister for Reintegration: Temur Iakobashvili -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) This position was formerly the State Minister for Conflict Resolution and was renamed to reflect the GOG's new focus on "Reintegration" of the separatist regions. Iakobashvili was an Executive Vice-President of the USG-funded Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, the most well-known think tank in Tbilisi. He was a World Program Fellow at Yale in 2002 and attended an Executive Security Program at Harvard in 2004. He is one of the two Jewish members of the cabinet along with Defense Minister Kezerashvili. State Minister for Refugees and Accommodation: Koba Subeliani -------------- - ¶6. (C) Subeliani will remain in the same ministry. However this position has been re-designated as State Minister, rather than Minister. TBILISI 00000123 002 OF 003 State Minister for Regional Policies: Davit Tkeshelashvili -------------- ¶7. (C) Tkeshelashvili was formerly the Minister of Healthcare and Social Issues. This new position will oversee the nine regional governors who represent the Presidential administration in the regions. It reflects the increasing importance of local and regional governments in the more decentralized structure of the government. Minister of Healthcare and Social Issues: Alexandre (Sandro) Kvitashvili -------------- ¶8. (C) Kvitashvili is a cabinet and political newcomer. He was a USG Muskie Fellow at New York University in 1992-1993, where he received a Master's degree in Public Policy. He is a close friend of PM Gurgenidze and was living and working in New York until this appointment. He was a fellow at the East-West Institute in New York. Minister of Education and Science: Gia Nodia -------------- ¶9. (C) Nodia is the head of a local NGO, the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy, and Development. Nodia has studied on multiple programs (not USG-funded) in the U.S. and is a widely-known analyst of Georgian political affairs. He has been considered an independent voice. Minister for Environmental Protection: Zaza Gamtsemlidze -------------- ¶10. (C) Gamtsemlidze is a cabinet and political newcomer. Post is unaware of Gamtsemlidze having ever studied in the U.S. Minister of Justice: Nika Gvaramia -------------- ¶11. (C) Gvaramia is currently a Deputy Prosecutor General and the PG's spokesperson. He has been the government's point man in investigations of former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and Badri Patarkatsishvili, appearing frequently on television. Gvaramia is not known to have studied in the U.S. Prosecutor General: Eka Tkeshelashvili -------------- ¶12. (C) Eka Tkeshelashvili became the Minister of Justice in September 2007 and before that was Chief Justice of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. She was a Muskie Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Law School, where she received an L.L.M. in International Human Rights Law. She is smart, capable, and dynamic. She was a Deputy Minister of Justice and before that she held a number of positions focusing on human rights issues. She has actively promoted judicial reform. Tkeshelashvili speaks fluent English and just gave birth to her first child. Minister of Culture and Sport: Nika Vacheishvili -------------- --- ¶13. (C) Vacheishvili was formerly the Deputy Minister in the same ministry. He participated in a USG-funded International Visitor Program on historical preservation and planning in ¶2005. Head of President's Administration: Zurab Adeishvili -------------- -------------- ¶14. (C) Adeishvili has been the Prosecutor General since ¶2004. He is a close advisor to President Saakashvili. Like Bendukidze, the intention of moving him to the Presidential Administration seems to be to remove him from the spotlight while keeping him in the government. Other Ministries -------------- ¶15. (C) Other ministers remain in their positions. David Kezerashvili is Minister of Defense, Vano Merabishvili is Minister of Internal Affairs, Alexander Khetaguri is Minister of Energy, Nika Gilauri is Minister of Finance, Petre Tsiskarishvili is Minister of Agriculture. SIPDIS TBILISI 00000123 003 OF 003 Abolished Ministerial Position -------------- ¶21. (C) The position of State Minister for Civil Integration Issues, formerly held by Zinaida Bestaeva, was abolished. Bestaeva was not nominated for another ministerial position. TEFFT