The Legal Committee of the Georgian Parliament has approved amendments to the law ‘On Military Duty and Military Service’, providing the abolition of compulsory military service. The initiator was MP Zurab Dzhaparidze, a member of the NGO ‘New political center - Girchi’. According to the bill, the innovation should come into force next year on January 1st.
According to the amendments, military service will be divided into contract, reserve and military personnel. All those interested, who correspond to the necessary requirements, can be recruited. Contractors can become regular servicemen after passing special examinations. The reserve service won’t be obligatory.
In case of hostilities, all citizens of Georgia will have to carry out their military duties.
In addition, foreign citizens also can be recruited with the permission of the Prime Minister, Sputnik Georgia reports.
MP Levan Berdzenishvili noted that people should serve in the army according to their desire, not by conscription.
"The army should not be a punishment or a refuge for the homeless. The army must be an honorable organization. It may become such an organization only if it is respected by people. This measure requires laws and professionals. It is impossible to implement in one day," Georgia Online cites him as saying.
Georgian experts Peter Mamradze and Nana Devdariani, interviewed by Vestnik Kavkaza, fully supported the initiative of the parliamentarians.
The head of the Institute for Strategy Management, Peter Mamradze, explained that a professional army not only corresponds to NATO standards, but it should be an extremely effective structure in a country such as Georgia.
"Real practice shows that universal recruitment doesn’t bring any effect. People in modern armies just have no time to become professionals, real soldiers and officers,’’ he said.
The head of the Center for Global Studies, Nana Devdariani, also believes that the quality of the army is more important than its size.
"In principle, I think that nothing prevents the adoption of this decision,’’ the head of the Center for Global Studies said.
