Georgian Public Broadcaster Board to have two chambers
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Thursday, May 1
A new draft-bill was prepared by the parliament amid the crisis pertaining to the Board of Trustees of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB).
According to the proposed changes as registered by the bureau, the Board of Trustees will consist of two chambers.
According to the amendment, the functions of the current board members will prevent them from making any illegal decisions and will provide effective internal monitoring for the new Board of Trustees and general director by informing the public on financial, personnel, or other problems in a timely manner.
The monitoring council will be staffed by old members of the board. It will monitor the new board, the general director of GPB and will have the right to make decisions about the TV budget. The council will also be authorized to raise the responsibility of the GPB’s General Director.
Georgian Dream MP, Eliso Chapidze, who is a former journalist, said that the Monitoring Council will have important functions and will monitor the whole Public Broadcaster.
"The Board of Trustees will become two-chambered. It is important that the Monitoring Council has some important rights. It can request any information with regard to the budget. In addition, the Council has the right to raise the issue of the general director’s liability. The reimbursement of the Monitoring Council will be 80% of the board’s salary,” Chapidze stated.
The draft bill was discussed at the Parliamentary Committee of Education and Science on April 29. The changes became necessary after the Constitutional Court restored the authorities to acting members of GPB’s old Board of Trustees in parallel to the process of staffing of new board by the parliament.
Currently, the GPB Board is composed of seven members. Three of them are eligible to remain in their position until 2017 and four others are due to end their duties in 2015.
