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Georgian parliament approves PM & new cabinet of ministers

The Georgian parliament has 150 seats

TBILISI, October 25 (Itar-Tass) — The Georgian parliament approved the composition of a new Georgian government at a plenary meeting in Kutaisi on Thursday. The deputies also approved Bidzina Ivanishvili as the country’s new prime minister. Eighty-eight deputies against fifty-four voted for the new cabinet of ministers. The Georgian parliament has 150 seats. One hundred forty-two deputies took part in the voting.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the Georgian Dream Coalition, formed a totally new government, which doesn’t have a single member from the governments of the past few years. The Georgian Dream Coalition holds 85 out of 150 seats in Georgian parliament. That is why nobody had had any doubt that the parliament would vote for the new government at Thursday’s plenary meeting. Under the Georgian Constitution, it was necessary to gain a simple majority or 76 votes. The new government was supported by 88 deputies.

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is 56. He was born in the Chorvila village in Western Georgia where he also grew up. Upon graduation from the engineering and economic department of the Tbilisi State University, Ivanishvili worked as an engineer at a mechanical plant in Tbilisi. He took a post-graduate course in Moscow and returned to Tbilisi in 1986 where he started up a computer business. In 1989, Ivanishvili travelled to Moscow where he continued his computer business.

Ivanishvili has been permanently residing in Georgia since 2002. He founded a major bank and a construction and agricultural companies. He became known as an art patron after having made huge investments in the construction of the St. Trinity Church in Tbilisi (began operation in 2005) and allocating funds for renovating theatres and museums. Ivanishvili also helps cultural figures and athletes.

In October 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili criticized the policy of President Mikhail Saakashvili. He blamed him for taking the country to the verge of a disaster. Ivanishvili created the Georgian Dream Coalition in April 2012. It won the parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 1.

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