Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili’s structural reform plans will undergo changes, Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze announced on December 4.

Speaking at the parliamentary bureau sitting, Irakli Kobakhidze said the Government had withdrawn from the package of amendments those bills, which envisage the merger of the Intelligence Service with the State Security Service.

“A decision was made through parliamentary consultations to withdraw a respective part of the amendments package. As a result, the merger of the Intelligence Service and the State Security Service is no longer proposed,” Kobakhidze said.

Kobakhidze also said that the Parliament would discuss the package of remaining legislative amendments in an accelerated manner, during its December 6-8 plenary sitting.

According to current legislation, the Intelligence Service is a special agency of the executive branch directly subordinated to the Prime Minister of Georgia. 

Its proposed merger with the State Security Service was one of the issues that triggered criticism from local civil society organizations and opposition representatives, who feared the State Security Service would be given excess powers.