Margvelashvili signs first decree as Georgian president

Newly-sworn-in Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili on Sunday signed his first decree to authorize the resigning cabinet to continue its duties until the national legislature conducts a confidence vote on it. The new constitution, which has come into force after Sunday's presidential inauguration, stipulates that the prime minister should resign after the president-elect is sworn in. Outgoing Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has pronounced his intention of retiring from Georgian politics for a long time, nominated Interior Minister Irakli Gharibashvili as his successor. Gharibashvili appointed 28-year-old Alexandre Tchikaidze as the new interior minister and did not plan other major changes to the existing cabinet, which consists of 20 ministers and state ministers. The new constitution, which was passed while the former ruling party held 119 of the 150 seats in the unicameral Georgian legislature, shifted some of the president's power to the prime ministerial portfolio. After the inauguration ceremony, Margvelashvili held his first meeting in the capacity of Georgian president, and met with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. Lithuania holds the rotating EU presidency and will host the EU-Eastern Partnership Summit, which will take place in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania later this month. Georgia is expected to attend the summit. "I invite the president of Georgia to Vilnius once more," said Grybauskaite. "We are ready to initial free trade and association agreement (with Georgia). The responsibility lies on this person to prepare your country for signing the agreement," he said.