Georgian Education Minister resigns, to be replaced Georgian Dream MP who formerly served under UNM
Georgian Education Minister Aleksandre Tsuladze has resigned after almost nine months in office. He will be replaced by Givi Mikanadze, a Georgian Dream MP and former deputy minister during the tenure of the former ruling United National Movement (UNM) party.
Tsuladze, who has held his post since October 2024, did not explain the reasons behind his resignation, which he announced via a Facebook post on Monday. He highlighted ‘many important initiatives’ implemented during his tenure and thanked Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and other cabinet members for their cooperation.
Soon after Tsuladze’s announcement, Kobakhidze announced that Mikanadze would become the eighth education minister under Georgian Dream’s rule. Until recently, Mikanadze served as the head of the Education Committee of the Georgian Parliament. Moreover, he has lectured at various Georgian universities and served as rector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Academy from 2016 to 2018.
Kobakhidze stated that considering Mikanadze’s professional experience, he’s an ‘ideal candidate’ for the ministerial position.
Mikanadze’s experience, highlighted by the Prime Minister, included a senior government role during the UNM’s time in power (2003–2012), which Georgian Dream has often labeled a ‘criminal regime’. From 2005 to 2008, he served as deputy minister of justice, overseeing reforms in the penitentiary system, according to a ministry press release at the time. UNM has faced multiple objections by critics — including Georgian Dream — over its management of this system, particularly regarding the treatment of prisoners.
One of the most notable events during Mikanadze’s tenure as deputy minister was the 2006 prisoner uprising at Tbilisi’s #5 prison, where a special operation carried out by the Penitentiary Department resulted in the deaths of seven inmates. After Georgian Dream came to power, the then-head of the department, Bacho Akhalaia, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison over the case.
In 2024, the opposition party For Georgia revived the issue of the uprising and called on the Prosecutor’s Office to launch an investigation against Mikanadze, who was by then a Georgian Dream MP. Responding to the criticism, Mikanadze denied any involvement in the decision-making process related to the 2006 special operation, stating that he was on a business trip the day the prison uprising began.
Mikanadze also emphasised that he had never been a member of UNM and joined the ministry after working at an international organisation, noting his involvement in OSCE and EU projects.
In 2023, the opposition party Lelo also reminded Mikanadze of his tenure under the UNM. In response, he said he is ‘not ashamed’ of that episode in his biography and that he was doing his job at the time. Mikanadze also asserted that he left the ministry after 7 November 2007, when the then-government violently dispersed opposition rallies.
In response, opposition leader Nika Gvaramia, who previously had been appointed Minister of Justice in January 2008, called Mikanadze’s claim ‘complete nonsense’, stating that he himself had dismissed Mikanadze from the position as deputy minister.
Georgian Dream, which established a parliamentary commission in February with the declared goal to punish the UNM, is often reminded by critics that relevant people could include individuals in its own ranks who either held official positions during the former government or supported the UNM, including through financial donations.
Another member of Kobakhidze’s cabinet, the recently-appointed Minister of Internal Affairs Gela Geladze, also held various posts during that period, including investigator at the Tbilisi Main Department of the Interior Ministry in 2005, deputy head of a division in the ministry’s Criminal Police Department from 2005 to 2006, and deputy head of the mandate service at the Ministry of Education and Science from 2010 to 2012.
In recent months, there have been numerous personnel changes within the Georgian government and state agencies. Among others, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze, and Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili have stepped down from their positions.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
