Opposition demands Tchikaidze’s dismissal
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, September 5
Members of the United National Movement are demanding the dismissal of the current Interior Minister Aleksandre Tchikaidze. The opposition stresses that he has failed to fulfill his obligations, and owing to the stoppage, there are increased criminal cases reported in the country. Majority representatives claim that there are no grounds for Tchikaidze’s dismissal.
During the last two weeks, Georgian TV channels have reported 10 murder cases and 11 cases of violent assault. There have been speculations that criminal rate has increased in the country.
“Because of the increase in crime and because the Ministry of Interior Affairs is chaired by Tchikaidze, we appeal to the Prime Minister to dismiss him,” the parliamentary minority states.
The minister himself refrained from making any comment over the accusations. However, responses were provided by his deputy Levan Izoria.
Using the available statistical information, Izoria tried to comfort the people. According to him, the crime rate has not increased. People have this impression because the media is reporting all crimes more closely these days.
“Under the previous administration, criminal cases were hidden. Now, we do not hide them and people have the perception that safety in the country has deteriorated,” Izoria said.
The statistical information that is placed on the Georgian Statistic Department’s web page reads that compared to the previous years, the crime rate in the country has not become worse.
Analysts state that the Ministry of Interior Affairs should change its strategy. Head of the Elections and Political Technologies Research Centre, Kakha Kakhishvili, states that there was no increase in criminals. However, the ministry should be more focused on criminal prevention activities.
Fellow analyst Levan Alapishvili believes that the large-scale amnesty has encouraged speculations over the crime rate. He also stressed that the public do not take the patrol police as the strong body they used to describe it as under the previous government. The analyst concludes that the current police administration should try to raise its rating among people through its mobilization and activeness.
