Irakli Garibashvili

Irakli Garibashvili ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი
11th Prime Minister of Georgia
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 November 2013
President	Giorgi Margvelashvili
Preceded by	Bidzina Ivanishvili
Minister of Internal Affairs
In office 25 October 2012 – 17 November 2013
Prime Minister	Bidzina Ivanishvili
Preceded by	Ekaterine Zguladze (Acting)
Succeeded by	Aleksandre Chikaidze
Personal details
Born	(1982-06-28) 28 June 1982 Tbilisi, Soviet Union (now Georgia)
Political party	Georgian Dream
Spouse(s)	Nunu Tamazashvili
Children	Nikoloz Andria
Alma mater	Tbilisi State University Pantheon-Sorbonne University
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church
Signature

Irakli Garibashvili (Georgian: ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili) (born June 28, 1982^[1]) is a Georgian politician and former business executive who has been Prime Minister of Georgia since 20 November 2013.

Garibashvili entered politics with his long-time associate, the businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, in October 2012. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs in the cabinet of Bidzina Ivanishvili from 2012 to 2013. Ivanishvili named Garibashvili as his successor as Prime Minister when he voluntarily stepped down in November 2013.^[2]

At 31 years of age, he is the 2nd after Kim Jong-un the world's youngest state leader.

Early career

Born in Tbilisi, Irakli Garibashvili graduated from the Tbilisi State University (TSU) with a degree in International Relations in 2004. He also studied at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University from 2002 to 2004 and obtained a master's degree in International Relations from the TSU in 2005. Since 2004, he has worked with the multi-billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, becoming Director General of Ivanishvili's charity foundation Cartu in 2005, a member of the supervisory board of Ivanishvili's Cartu Bank in 2007 and director of the label Georgian Dream founded by Ivanishvili's pop-star son Bera in 2009.^[3]

Gharibashvili became involved in the politics of Georgia when Ivanishvili founded his political party Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia in February 2012. He was included in the party list of MP candidates for the October 2012 parliamentary election.

Minister of Internal Affairs

After Georgian Dream's victory in the 2012 parliamentary election, Garibashvili was appointed as Minister of Internal Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ivanishvili on October 25, 2012. Garibashvili, then 30 years old and described by the Georgian media as "Ivanishvili's right-hand man", became the youngest member of Georgia's new government. Reforming the Interior Ministry, a powerful agency overseeing police, security and intelligence services, as well as the border guard and navy, was a part of the Georgian Dream's pre-election agenda.^[4]

From 2012 through 2013, the Interior Ministry arrested several high-ranking officials from the previous government, including the former ministers Bachana Akhalaia and Ivane Merabishvili. This led to concerns regarding selective justice and political vengeance and drew criticism from the domestic opposition and the international media.^[5] Garibashvili's agency also faced the post-election spike in crime in Georgia. Garibashvili defended the arrests as being in strict accordance with the law and justice and claimed that the rate of minor crime, albeit increased, was not alarming.^[6][7]

Prime Minister

On November 2, 2013, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who had declared his intention to quit the government following the October 2013 presidential election, named Garibashvili as his successor.^[8] He and his cabinet won in a vote of 93-19^[9] in the Parliament of Georgia on 20 November 2013. Garibashvili thus occupied the most powerful political office in the country as the constitution amendments had transferred power from the president to the prime minister and the government. At heated parliamentary debates with the United National Movement minority during the vote, Garibashvili promised economic improvement and stressed that Georgia's EU and NATO aspiration would remain his foreign priorities.^[2] On 24 November 2013, he was elected chairman of the Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia party, succeeding Ivanishvili.^[10]

Personal life

Garibashvili is married to Nunu Tamazashvili (born 1983), with two sons, Nikoloz (born 2005) and Andria (born 2010). His father-in-law, Tamaz Tamazashvili, is a former police general who was arrested on charges of illegally carrying and keeping weapon and explosives in October 2011. Garibashvili, a member of then-opposition Georgian Dream party, claimed the arrest was politically motivated. After the Georgian Dream acceded to power in October 2012, Tamazashvili was released from prison.^[11]

References

External links

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