According to the news report aired on March 11 by Maestro TV, Gurjaani and Dedoplistskaro municipality councils of appointed governors without competition required by the law. We believe that Georgian legislation was violated and it is necessary to annul decisions made by the municipality councils.

According to the Law of Georgia On Public Service, a municipality governor is a civil servant of local government who is appointed by the chairperson of a city council. The same law stipulates that a person can be appointed only through competition, with the exception of cases listed in the article 30. This article does not provide any exemptions for a municipality governor. Accordingly, carrying out a competition for appointed municipality governors is compulsory.

In the news report of Maestro TV, Avtandil Zardiashvili, the chairperson of Gurjaani City Council, confirms that Joni Osiashvili, former interim governor, was appointed as a governor without competition. Levan Natroshvili, the chairperson of City Council of Dedoplistskaro, states the same and confirms appointing of Irakli Shiolashvili as a governor without competition (order 28 November #42-k). Moreover, according to Natroshvili, the law does not include any requirement for carrying out a competition for municipality governors.

It is obvious that what we observe are serious violations of the law, making Osiashvili and Shiolashvili unauthorized, as well as raise the issue of legality of acts issued by them. We, therefore, call on Gurjaani and Dedoplistskaro city councils to annul the acts appointing municipality governors. Legal acts issued by illegally appointed governors also need to be reviewed.