Tbilisi: The member of the ‘For Georgia opposition party, Kakhaber Kemoklidze, has criticized the government’s recent bill proposal, which allows the formation of an anti-corruption agency, whose head would be appointed by the Prime Minister from the nominees that would be presented by a competition commission. Kemoklidze opposed the proposal, saying the PM must not appoint the head of the anti-corruption agency.
The opposition member stated- “We ask a very simple question, towards 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 Prime Minister himself?”
He also criticized the proposed bill as it failed to provide investigative authority 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 appointed and approved by an almost absolute majority of the parliament. He should be answerable to both the ruling party and the opposition as well. 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 party is “unwilling” to combat corruption.
The MP from the ruling party and the chair of the parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, Anri Okhanshvili, announced the proposal of the bill on Wednesday, claiming it to be one of the parts of the European Union’s 12-point conditions to be fulfilled by Georgia to acquire its membership candidate status.
The MP noted that the newly formed agency would operate as a supervisor in implementing the document defining the general policy to combat corruption and the national anti-corruption plans of Georgia.
Further, it would coordinate the activities of the functions and activities of relevant bodies, organizations and officials. Any amendments to the act shall be discussed in the next week.
