The Procedural Issues Committee reviewed and approved, in the I reading and under an expedited procedure, amendments to the Law “On Official Statistics”.

According to the draft law, the Executive Director of the National Statistics Office of Georgia will be appointed by the Prime Minister of Georgia for a term of four years.

Under the legislative amendments, a candidate for the position of Executive Director will be selected through a publicly announced open competition by an independent competition commission established by a decree of the Government of Georgia, with the competition to be announced by Geostat.

The draft law stipulates that the same principle will apply to the appointment of members of the Geostat Board. Specifically, a Board member will be appointed by the Prime Minister of Georgia from among candidates selected through an open competition. The composition of the independent competition commission, the procedures for conducting the open competition, and the mandatory qualification requirements for candidates for Board membership will be determined by a decree of the Government of Georgia.

As noted by the reporter, First Deputy Chair of the “Georgian Dream” faction Levan Machavariani, the draft law does not abolish oversight mechanisms, and the Executive Director of the National Statistics Office will remain accountable to both the Parliament of Georgia and the Government.

“The Executive Director of the National Statistics Office shall, no later than May 1 of each year, submit an annual report on Geostat’s activities to the Parliament of Georgia and the Government”, - he stated.

According to him, a corresponding amendment is also envisaged in the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, under which parliamentary approval will no longer be required for the appointment of the Executive Director of the National Statistics Office or for members of the Geostat Board.