The Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) reported on December 9 that the Interior Ministry may be divided into several parts, as a result of anticipated structural changes in the government.
The paper says that the Interior Ministry?s special purpose units may soon fall under the subordination of the Defense Ministry, like the Internal Troops units, which merged with the Defense Ministry forces on November 1.
Pre-trial detention centers, currently under the control of the Interior Ministry, will fall under the Justice Ministry?s control. The investigative department will be under the subordination of the newly set-up Patrol Police.
According to the Rezonansi, decentralization of the police is anticipated as well; as a result, municipal police departments may be set up, which will be under the subordination of the city Mayors and Heads of the districts.
A sheriff, which will be an elected position, will chair the municipal police departments, according to the Rezonansi newspaper.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania confirmed on December 8 in an interview to the Rustavi 2 television that the structural changes are anticipated in the Interior Ministry; however he did not specify details.