Minister who called Ivanishvili ‘saviour sent by God’ resigns

Georgia’s Minister of Infrastructure, Irakli Karseladze, has resigned, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced during a briefing on Thursday. Karseladze will be replaced by Revaz Sokhadze, a majoritarian member of the Tbilisi City Municipal Assembly.

Kobakhidze said that Karseladze had submitted his resignation request of his own accord the day before. He thanked Karseladze for the ‘many successful projects’, which, according to Kobakhidze, were implemented during his time in office.

For his part, Karseladze thanked Kobakhidze for his ‘kind words’, as well as the party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and the ruling team for the opportunity to serve as minister.

Before being appointed minister, Karseladze worked as the First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure from 2018 to 2021, as well as the Head of the Department of Highways.

Ahead of last October’s elections, during a pre-election meeting in Kutaisi, Karseladze referred to Ivanishvili, who founded Georgian Dream in 2012 and currently serves as its Honorary Chairman, as a ‘saviour’.

‘In times of hardship, God sends a saviour to the country, and we are fortunate that God sent us such a person […] Since 2011, with the decision [to enter politics] and the result achieved in 2012, and today — in this turbulent, attack-filled situation, we have a person who deeply loves his country’, Karseladze said at the time.

Sokhadze, who replaced Karseladze, had been a majoritarian member of the Tbilisi City Municipal Assembly since 2017, representing the capital’s Samgori district. Additionally, he served as the chairman of the Assembly’s Urban Planning and Municipal Utilities Committee.

Just before Karseladze’s resignation, on 2 April, a legislative change was announced to divide the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure into two. Karseladze remained as the Minister of Infrastructure.

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 was initially nominated for the post of Minister of Regional Development, but after two days, Kobakhidze announced that they could not agree on some issues, among them, the functions of the deputy ministers. Therefore, Liluashvili’s candidacy was withdrawn. 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.

Georgian Dream chair and ex-Prime Minister Gharibashvili announces exit from politics

Rely on OC Media? We rely on you too. Amidst the current global turmoil, small news outlets like ours could be the first to close. Help us get off grants and become the first reader-funded news site in the Caucasus, and keep telling the stories that matter. Become a member The chair of Georgian Dream and former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili has announced his departure from politics. Speaking at a briefing in the ruling party office on Friday, Gharibashvili said he had ’honor

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia