New Georgian PM nominated
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has nominated his finance minister, Zurab Nogaideli, as prime minister to replace Zurab Zhvania who died in a gas accident last week.
Zhvania was found dead last week, apparently asphyxiated by gas from a faulty heater.
The dominance of pro-Saakashvili deputies in parliament means Nogaideli’s nomination is virtually assured of approval.
Once he names his government, parliament has a week to vote on the nomination.
The 40-year-old Nogaideli has been the finance minister for a year, shortly after the previous government was ousted in a bloodless popular uprising.
Nogaideli held the same job for 18 months until late 2001 until he fell out with then-President Eduard Shevardnadze.
Trackrecord
Nogaideli was close to Zhvania and has earned a reputation of keeping a very tight grip on state finances.
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Zurab Zhvania died in a gas |
“As Nogaideli was a very principled and tough finance minister, I think he would be a good economic manager in the government. But I am afraid that he is not flexible enough to be a good political manager,” said political analyst Gocha Tskitishvili.
Fluent in Russian and English, Nogaideli had entered Georgia’s parliament in 1992 as a member of the ruling party of Shevardnadze.
After his falling out with Shevardnadze, he worked on the board of a local commercial bank and was also a consultant on legal issues.