Mikheil Sarjveladze, one of the leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream, has been appointed as the Minister of IDPs, Labor, Health, and Social Protection from the occupied territories of Georgia. Until now, he was the chairman of the Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament.
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The new minister was introduced by the head of the government, Irakli Kobakhidze, at today's briefing.
“During this week, we had individual consultations with members of our political team and representatives of the medical community. One of the main topics of these consultations was the extent to which the new minister should come from medical circles. On this issue, both within the political team and among the medical community representatives, opinions were divided into two. One group believed that the new minister should necessarily be from the medical community, while the other expressed the opposite opinion.
Based on the consultations, I concluded that both representatives of the medical community and other candidates could be considered for the post of minister. In the end, I preferred a member of our political team, in whose professionalism and integrity I have great confidence based on experience. Mikheil Sarjveladze was appointed as the Minister of Health,” said Kobakhidze.
According to him, the ministry has serious challenges, but he is sure that Mikheil Sarjveladze “with his professionalism and outstanding personal qualities will be the best minister.”
Mikheil Sarjveladze replaced Zurab Azarashvili. Azarashvili resigned from the position of Minister of Health on March 1 after a meeting with the Prime Minister. Irakli Kobakhidze cited the problem of communication and dissatisfaction in the medical community as the basis for Azarashvili's removal. “I myself was convinced by the example of the Republican hospital that such problems really existed,” explained the Prime Minister.
Mikheil Sarjveladze is a lawyer by profession. Until 2012, before Georgian Dream came to power, he worked as a lawyer. From 2012 to 2013, he was the chairman of the National Bureau of Enforcement of the Ministry of Justice, and from 2013 to 2018, he held the position of Deputy Minister of Justice. From 2018 to 2020, he was the first deputy minister of justice, and as a result of the 2020 parliamentary elections, he became a member of the Georgian Parliament on the proportional list of Georgian Dream. Sarjveladze has headed the Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration Committee since December 2020. He is one of the members of the parliamentary majority who, in March 2023, supported the adoption of the ‘Russian Law’ on foreign agents.
