Parliament elected Otar Koberidze, an actor, as a new member of the Georgian Public Broadcaster’s board of trustees on July 15.

Koberidze, a popular actor who featured in Mikheil Saakashvili’s election campaign TV ads ahead of January's presidential election, has taken the seat vacated by former board chairman Irakli Tripolski, who resigned in late May, citing the station's “biased reporting.”

The parliamentary minority abstained on the vote, saying the appointment of a new board member should have been agreed upon with the opposition, as the board was set up in February on the basis of cross-party agreement.