Georgian interior minister named new PM

Georgian Interior Minister Irakli Gharibashvili will be the next prime minister of the South Caucasus country, the ruling coalition said Saturday. The announcement was made after an internal discussion among political council members of the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia coalition. Members from the parliamentary majority also attended the consultation. Gharibashvili, 31, will decide who takes over the interior ministerial portfolio. "We had consultations but he has not decided it yet," said outgoing Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who will resign later this month. "Today it is enough to announce the new prime minister. Irakli will later name the new interior minister," he added. The prime minister, who has long voiced his intention to step down after the inauguration of president-elect Giorgi Margvelashvili on Nov. 17, said he could now fulfill his promise to move into civil society. Gharibashvili was the youngest cabinet member when Ivanishvili formed a government after the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia coalition took the legislative polls in October last year.