The Parliament of Georgia is reviewing amendments to its Rules of Procedure under an accelerated procedure. One of the key issues concerns the article regulating the election of members to the Public Broadcaster’s Board of Trustees. According to Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, if a vacancy opens on the board, the entity

holding the quota for that vacant seat will directly select its preferred candidate and present them to the Parliament for consideration. According to the Georgian Law on Broadcasting, the Public Broadcaster’s Board of Trustees consists of 11 members. Parliament elects the trustees based on the following nominations: Two nominated by the Public Defender. Three nominated by the parliamentary majority. Three nominated by the parliamentary opposition. Three nominated by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara.

Under the current regulations, candidates for the Board of Trustees are selected through an open competition announced by the Speaker of Parliament. A 9-member commission is formed to shortlist candidates and present them to the authorized entities. From this shortlist, the entities then select nominees to present to the Parliament.

Papuashvili argues that this regulation is “absurd” because the legislative body cannot establish its own procedures without external interference. Therefore, he believes the election procedure must be brought closer to the core principle of parliamentary democracy: parliamentary sovereignty.

“The proposal is as follows: establish a procedure where, if there is a vacancy within an entity’s quota, that entity can select [a candidate] however it wishes. It can hold a competition or do whatever it wants—whether it’s the majority, the opposition, the Public Defender, or the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. But in its relationship with the Parliament, this entity must present a single candidate. It should say, ‘Here is a vacancy, I have the right to nominate a candidate, and I am nominating this specific person,’ rather than being handed three candidates pre-selected by others and being told to pick one of them,” stated Papuashvili.

According to Papuashvili, the nominated candidate will first be evaluated by the Sector Economy Committee before being put to a vote at a plenary session. Parliament plans to fast-track these amendments and adopt them during the current session week.

The Media Advocacy Coalition assesses these changes as creating additional risks for media freedom, transparency, and institutional independence. “This decision further reduces transparency and strengthens the risk of undue influence over the Public Broadcaster, which has been under the influence of ‘Georgian Dream’ for years, and whose management persecutes independent and professional journalists,” the coalition noted in its statement.