On 18 February, the Georgian Parliament approved Irakli Shotadze as the country's prosecutor general for the second time, reported agenda.ge. Shotadze was elected with 82 parliamentarians for and none against as the opposition and independent parliamentarians boycotted the seating.
“Shotadze is a dignified professional, who is able to make difficult decisions as well as to assume responsibilities,” said Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. “Under Irakli Shotadze’s tenure, the prosecutor’s office was one of the most effective agencies… He really has experience in management, he is one of the [most] professional prosecutors in the country,” said the Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze.
The Georgian opposition parties and civil society organizations strongly opposed Shotadze’s re-election, arguing that his nomination was the “personal decision” of the head and founder of the Georgian Dream ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili. “Shotadze is a slave among the slaves, understands very well, why Ivanishvili has selected him; because he will have to put his signature under all dirty cases, when Ivanishvili will use the Prosecutor’s Office as a tool of political persecution ahead of elections, the elections, where he will participate without any public support, thinking that by arresting and intimidating political opponents, exerting pressure on and bribing the media, he will manage to avoid an irreversible failure that [is expected of] him during the polls. That is why Shotadze was appointed to this position,” said Tina Bokuchava from the United National Movement. “Naming Irakli Shotadze was an insulting step on the part of Ivanishvili and what happened now is disrespect towards the Parliament,” said Giorgi Kandelaki from European Georgia.
Shotadze was the first Georgian prosecutor general elected by the parliament in 2015. He resigned from the post on 31 May 2018, amid protests over the high-profile “Khorava Street” murder case involving teenagers. The Georgian Technical University proposed Shotadze for re-election, after the post became vacant after former Chief Prosecutor Shalva Tadumadze was approved as lifetime judge of the Georgian Supreme Court in December 2019.
