Opposition speaks against nepotism at public service

The Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defense has confirmed that MPs Sophie Kiladze and Tamar Khulordava's spouses are employed at the General Inspection Department of the Ministry of Defense.

They stressed that certain functions have been added to the General Inspection Department and it led to the employment of the additional staff.

“It has nothing to do with nepotism. They took part in the competition and the competition-certification commission made a decision. Levan Vakhtangadze and Avtandil Kharadze have been appointed as temporary acting inspectors,” said a representative of the Department.

The statement came after criticism of the opposition.

“The trend of nepotism in the Georgian Dream government is very worrying,” Irma Nadirashvili, a a member of the European Georgia opposition party, stated.

She announced that the appointing of the two men at the ministry indicated towards nepotism.

“Politicians' children and their family members should not be the target of political confrontation and they should be able to live normally, but sometimes politicians themselves create a situation wherein members of society or the opposition are forced to ask questions,” she said.

Defence Minister Levan Ozoria also commented on the issue, saying that Nadirashvili’s relatives are also employed at the Ministry but he didn’t fire them.

He stressed that none of his relatives were employed at the Ministry and said the employment of the two people was in line with law.

Several days ago, the employment of ruling party representative Irakli Sesiashvili’s 19-year-old son – a second-year university student – at the State Security Service also caused controversy.

Sesiashvili himself stated that his son was a “distinguished student.”

Sesiashvili does not seem to have considered (or has totally and callously disregarded) the fact that “distinguished” sons or daughters of ordinary citizens have no a chance to be employed at such an important body, unlike the son of the head of Parliament’s Defence Committee.

Creating a new department and appointing MPs’ husbands also causes some question marks to be raised; despite claims that the men were employed after an 'employment competition', no details over this process have been released, nor have the successful candidates' qualifications.

Nepotism in the state institutions and elsewhere is a huge step backwards, and it is ironic that it was a subject of criticism by the Georgian Dream party towards the UNM's preceding leadership. Of course, everyone has the right to have a job and their relationship to some top figures or MPs must not be an obstacle, but their appointment must be transparent and fair.