Paper: Struggle for Central Bank Chief Position Far from Over

Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze?s salvo against the cabinet reshuffle and in particular the nomination of ex-Finance Minister Lexo Alexishvili for the central bank’s chief position may force President Saakashvili to side with her at the expense of PM Zurab Nogaideli, the Georgian daily Rezonansi wrote on September 5.

Alexishvili?s candidacy was pushed for by PM Nogaideli, the newspaper said, while Burjanadze tried to have her ally, MP Irakli Kovzanadze, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for budgetary and financial issues, endorsed.

?Although Burjanadze said that she was upset over being ignored during the consultation process prior to the cabinet reshuffle, the real problem, however, was the candidacy for the central bank’s chief,? Rezonansi wrote. ?She would probably have put up with being sidelined on the consultations if her favored candidate had been accepted.?

The newspaper speculated that Burjanadze’s unusually tough-worded statement had in fact the backing of President Saakashvili. ?Now it seems that Parliament will probably reject PM Nogaideli?s nomination for the position of central bank chief,? Rezonansi wrote.

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