Media Ombudsman: To be or not to be?

One of the majority leaders Gia Volski negatively evaluated the initiative of Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili over the creation of the Media Ombudsman office in the beginning, but after he realised the idea belonged to PM, he changed his mind.

Initially Volski said the creation of the new institute was useless, as there already is a public defender’s office in Georgia.

Later he welcomed the decision, and stated it would provide positive consequences.

PM Kvirikashvili initiated the creation of a media ombudsman institute to protect the rights of various media outlets in the wake of a large-scale stir over the Rustavi 2 private broadcaster trials, with the ex-owners of the channel gaining back the shares of the TV channel.

The PM stressed the solutions and recommendations from the European institutions were of the utmost importance.

The PM stated the office of the Media Ombudsman would continuously monitor the country's media environment and development, including the processes involving Rustavi 2 and the media environment as a whole.

Kvirikashvili stated “We are open to cooperation. We are investing in protecting and empowering our institutions, and we will spare no effort to ensure the development of our country in accordance with the European and democratic values.”

It is hardly a secret that there are various disputes between the government and the President.

The founder of the current ruling team, billionaire ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, selected Giorgi Margvelashvili to become a President but later changed his mind about him, stating that Margvelashvili revealed “other moods” after his election.

Those people who take senior positions in different state institutions in Georgia still fail to realise that they must act based on the state interests and not their narrow, political interests.