The Legal Issues Committee supported, at I reading, the Draft Law on the Parliamentary Secretary.

According to the draft law, the position of Deputy Parliamentary Secretary of the Government of Georgia will be abolished.

As explained by the Parliamentary Secretary of the Government, Vakhtang Bachiashvili, under the current arrangement the Parliamentary Secretary has a deputy, although the deputy’s functions are not specifically defined.

At the same time, under the Law On the Parliamentary Secretary, the activities of the Government’s Parliamentary Secretary are supported by an authorized structural unit of the Government Administration—the Department for Relations with Parliament and the President. One of the department’s primary responsibilities is to assist the Parliamentary Secretary in exercising the powers granted by law.

Accordingly, there is a certain duplication of functions, which in some cases may negatively affect the timely consideration and resolution of specific issues.

“Therefore, there is no longer a need for the additional layer represented by the Deputy Parliamentary Secretary. We believe that this amendment will result in significant annual budget savings within the staffing structure of the Government Administration”, - Vakhtang Bachiashvili stated.