The Georgian Parliament has elected Giorgi Gvarakidze as Georgia’s new Prosecutor General.
Gvarakidze was elected on Tuesday, with 83 MPs voting in favour and none against his candidacy, in a parliament fully controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and its satellites.
Before the vote, the newly appointed prosecutor general delivered a speech underlining the importance of ‘strengthening the internal institutional framework of the Prosecutor’s Office’.
He named among his priorities the fight against corruption in both the public and private sectors, including crimes committed by public officials. Gvarakidze also addressed his drug policy, stating that a ‘strict approach will be pursued, particularly toward drug dealers’.
Gvarakidze will be taking over from Giorgi Gabitashvili, who was sanctioned in April by the UK alongside other officials ‘for their role in allowing serious human rights violations’ during the ongoing pro-EU protests in Georgia. Gabitashvili stepped down from his post on 4 June, having only been appointed in 2024.
Upon Gabitashvili’s resignation, Gvarakidze was appointed as first deputy prosecutor general, holding the position for three weeks before his election on Tuesday.
Prior to that, Gvarakidze had worked at the Prosecutor’s Office for over 20 years, holding various positions. Earlier this year, he also briefly served as Tbilisi’s Chief Prosecutor.
In recent months, Georgia witnessed a string of personnel changes in the cabinet and state agencies, some involving officials under international sanctions.
On 3 June, Deputy Interior Minister Ioseb Chelidze resigned, following the 28 May departure of Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri. Both had been sanctioned for police violence against anti-government protesters — Gomelauri by the US and UK, among others.
Earlier, on 25 April, Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze stepped down and was replaced by Revaz Sokhadze, a majoritarian member of the Tbilisi City Municipal Assembly.
During the same period, Grigol Liluashvili resigned from his position at the State Security Service and was replaced by the now-former Minister of Justice, Anri Okhanashvili. Liluashvili has been sanctioned by Estonia and Lithuania.
Liluashvili was initially nominated for the post of Minister of Regional Development, but had his candidacy withdrawn after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that they could not agree on some issues, among them the duties of deputy ministers. It was later revealed that the Regional Development Ministry would be headed by Kahha Guledani, the Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi.
Additionally, on 4 April, the head of the Adjara government, Tornike Rizhvadze, resigned. He was replaced by Sulkhan Tamazashvili, the Director of the Tbilisi Police Department, who is sanctioned by the UK over the violence against protesters.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
