TBILISI, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Georgia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia on Tuesday was nominated by the ruling party as the new prime minister after Mamuka Bakhtadze announced his resignation on Monday.
"This morning we held a meeting of the political board and I, as the chairman of the party, nominated Giorgi Gakharia as the new candidate for the Prime Minister's post. The decision had received full support," Bidzina Ivanishvili, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party, told a news conference held in the capital.
Gakharia told reporters that he was grateful to every member of the party and the political board for showing such support to him.
He also disclosed his plan to reshuffle the cabinet. In his plan, Vakhtang Gomelauri will be the new minister of internal affairs while Irakli Gharibashvili will become the defense minister. Other cabinet members will remain unchanged.
According to the Georgian constitution, the ruling party should nominate a new prime minister within seven days of Bakhtadze's resignation.
The new prime minister will need to secure a minimum 76 votes in parliament for his cabinet to be approved.
