The EU Delegation to Georgia has welcomed today’s announcement by the Georgian ruling party ‘Georgian Dream” that it would withdraw the draft legislation on the “Transparency of foreign influence”. 

“We encourage all political leaders in Georgia to resume pro-EU reforms, in an inclusive and constructive way and in line with the 12 priorities for Georgia to achieve candidate status,” the Delegation said on Twitter.

On 7 March, the bill passed its first reading in the Georgian parliament, despite widespread protests.

The EU said the law was incompatible with EU values and standards and goes against Georgia’s stated objective of joining the European Union, adding that this is “a very bad development for Georgia and its people”.

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Press release

According to Droa, Levan Ioseliani and representatives of Georgian Dream did not attend the PACE voting procedure where Russia was declared a terrorist regime.

"On October 13, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted to declare Russia a terrorist regime. The voting process was attended by 100 representatives of the member states, of which only one abstained from taking a position, and 99 unanimously declared Russia a terrorist regime.

The representatives of Georgia­n Dream, as well as the member of the Citizens party, the deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, did not attend the mentioned vote and, therefore, did not support the declaration of Russia as a terrorist regime.

Only Khatia Dekanoidze (UNM) attended the voting from Georgia, who supported the said decision. This is confirmed by the data of the voting archive of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

This step once again emphasizes the loyalty of Georgia­n Dream to Putin's regime and the fact that Russia is a natural political and civilizational space for them.

For Georgia, as a state occupied by Russia and a country with a Russian colonial past, the mentioned fact and the pro-Russian rule of Georgia­n Dream are not only shameful, but also pose a danger for us to stay in the ruins of a defeated imperial state. We must do everything to get our homeland back and finally establish a place for it in the Euro-Atlantic family," Dr­oa says in a statement and shares the relevant link: https://pace.coe.int/en/votes/39122

Former Prime Minister of Georgia and the ruling Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili Wednesday released a statement, touching on various issues.

Below are the main takeaways:

Ivanishvili claims amid the challenging political situation in the region, Georgia and the ruling team have been facing “very painful processes” in the past months. ” Those longing for dragging Georgia into war perplexes the ruling team’s situation even further.”

He says “despite the greatest difficulties, the ruling team worked aptly with right and principled stance, and overcame the first stage of the war threat.” However, the ex-PM believes until the end of the war in Ukraine, certain risks remain despite the said risks being cancelled out.

“As the war risks are subdued far as possible, the ruling team can shift its attention to “another crucial priority and ensure Georgia’s relations with its strategic partner, the United States and the European Union, are not damaged,” he stated.

In his lengthy statement, Ivanishvili also mentioned his “personal problems” with Switzerland-based investment banking company Credit Suisse, claiming the issues are directly linked to the ongoing processes in Georgia. “However, as Georgia practically tackled the war threat, rather than expose the relationship between the Swiss bank and me too much to society, I prefer to keep it as my private matter,” he asserted.

In his ending part, Ivanishvili echoed the claims over his meeting with the US Ambassador to Georgia, noting that at the request of the Ambassador he had held a three-hour meeting with Kelly Degnan on March 21.

On July 21, US Ambassador said, “I have not met with Mr. Ivanishvili in quite some time. In every meeting, I’ve had with him over the past two and a half years that I have been in Georgia, I have always assured him of the United States’ full support for the people of Georgia and our willingness to work with the government of Georgia for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future for Georgia’s democratic and economic development. In none of those meetings have I ever tried to blackmail Mr. Ivanishvili.”

Source: https://1tv.ge/lang/en/news/bidzina-ivanishvili-releases-statement-2/

Parliament Speaker Kakha Kuchava stepped down from his post, Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze announced on Friday. The Education, Science and Culture Committee Chair, MP Shalva Papuashvili, will be nominated as the new speaker of the state legislature.

Giorgi Amilakhvari, first deputy of the Education, Science and Culture Committee, will replace Sh. Papuashvili, I. Kobakhidze noted. GD Chair also said that MPs Anri Okhanashvili and Irakli Chikovani would join the party’s political council.

"A sitting of the party's political council was held today, where several important personnel issues were discussed. Kakha Kuchava, the Speaker of the Parliament, made a decision to resign. Kakha himself will explain the reason for the decision. On behalf of the Georgian Dream political team, I thank him for his proper service as the Speaker of the Parliament during very difficult period. Kakha's decision is, of course, disappointing for the whole team, but we respect this decision. Therefore, the decision was taken into account by the party's political council. Kakha will remain one of the leaders of our political team, a member of the party's political council, and he will work on a state-important project, about which we will share detailed information later. According to the decision of the political council of the party and the parliamentary majority, Shalva Papuashvili will be nominated for the position of the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia. Shalva does not need a special presentation. I remind you that he is a doctor of law, he has defended his dissertation in Germany. For years he worked in international organizations, as a professor at universities. To date, Shalva has been a successful chair of the Education and Science Committee," said I. Kobakhidze.

The Public Defender of Georgia would like to respond to the statement made by Irakli Kobakhidze, Chairman of the Georgian Dream political movement of citizens, in which he speaks about the possible responsibility of the Public Defender and doctors invited by her. This rhetoric goes beyond the legal framework, represents an attempt to attack and intimidate an independent constitutional body and its experts, and contradicts national and international human rights obligations.

The Organic Law on the Public Defender of Georgia gives the Public Defender the authority to invite experts and specialists to perform expert activities. This very authority was used by the Public Defender of Georgia on November 16, 2021 and a multidisciplinary group of experts was set up to evaluate Mikheil Saakashvili's medical services. Since then, the Chairman of the Georgian Dream political movement has been referring to "possible future responsibility" of the Public Defender and the experts invited by her without any legal arguments, for some abstract reasons. The above represents an attempt to put pressure on representatives/experts of the Public Defender of Georgia due to expression of their professional views, which is contrary to both the Constitution of Georgia and international principles.

We call on the United Nations, Council of Europe, OSCE/ODIHR, diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia and ombuds/NHRI associations to study the above issue and assess it within their mandates. Contrary to the Paris Principles (https://bit.ly/3HzC8NK), the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on national human rights institutions (https://bit.ly/3DuL1G1) and the Venice Principles (https://bit.ly/30ve39L), the Public Defender of Georgia encounters obstacles in the implementation of her mandate, while experts may refuse to cooperate with the Public Defender in the future.

Once again, we would like to thank the qualified and conscientious medical professionals who managed to make an assessment in a short time. We also call on the relevant professional associations to support these persons.

The US Embassy in Georgia made a statement, which we offer without change: "The United States is deeply disturbed and exasperated by the unilateral decision of the Georgian Dream party to withdraw from the April 19th Agreement, a document established through six months of difficult but collaborative negotiations, and one that gives an urgently-needed way forward for the Georgian people and their democracy. One hundred fifteen MPs from at least six of nine elected parties signed the Agreement and pledged to work together in good faith to reduce the deep polarization that is impeding Georgia’s democratic progress. Washington is growing increasingly alarmed about repeated setbacks to Georgia’s democratic future.

“In principle, the processes developed exactly as during the previous negotiations. The negotiators failed to propose a text that would be acceptable to the Georgian Dream,” Zurab Japaridze, leader of Girchi -More Freedom party, said after a joint meeting between the opposition and government officials.

According to him, the Georgian Dream was not ready to agree to any points in the document and sign it. My expectations from Christian Danielsson's visit to Georgia and from our Western friends and Partners, in general.

The country is in a profound crisis. The economy is practically ruined. The investments have stopped, nobody wants to risk bringing their money in here. On top of that there is COVID-19 pandemic and the worsened security environment in the region. Against this background the Government manages to retain power through taking new multi-billion loans, through spreading propaganda based on lies and through utilizing the security agencies.

The political crisis, which instead of receding, has intensified following the 2020 Parliamentary elections, has acquired catastrophic magnitude as a result of the arrest of the chairman of the largest opposition party, the announcement of the de-facto chair of the ruling party that he was leaving politics and the resignation of the de-facto Prime Minister.

In a situation like this, for any country, which wishes to be perceived as a democracy, there is only one way to resolve crisis – new elections. But Georgian Dream claims that this is a “red line” for them.

In reality, it is not the new elections that are a “red line”. The red line for the Georgian Dream, is the loss of power. They are afraid to lose power as a result of fair elections, not just elections per se. Let’s not kid ourselves- this is the real “red line”.

Against this backdrop and taking into consideration the multitude of serious challenges mentioned above, our Western friends have decided to help us and to assume the role of the mediator between the de-facto authorities and the opposition. For this, they deserve our gratitude, especially the EU and US Ambassadors.

Several rounds of negotiations have ended without any result and now we are all expecting the second visit of the EU Council President’s special envoy, Mr. Daniellson with the hope that we can finally reach some agreement and resolve the political crisis. 

However, at this moment it is not at all clear what can possibly happen during the second visit of Mr. Danielsson that will drastically change the dynamics of the negotiations and bring us to the agreement.

That is why, I have decided to publicly state what are my personal expectations as regards this visit and where I see the solution. 

In my opinion, the five clauses outlined by the EU Council President indicate very precisely what exactly are the dire shortcomings that Georgia has. Without solving them, any discourse about addressing other issues and external threats, is quite simply, meaningless:

1) Political persecution must end, as using judicial system against the political opponents is incompatible with the Western/European values. Therefore, political prisoners must be set free

2) The courts must be independent and must not be ruled by a clan loyal to any one person or any one party, because such courts are incompatible with Western/European values

3) Power must be shared and the opposition has to be equipped with real tools to have a political impact, because power concentrated entirely in the hands of any one person or any one party is incompatible with the Western/European values

4) The elections should be free and fair, because the situation whereby not a single party or political leader voted for by the half of the voters, recognizes the results of the elections and trusts the electoral administration or courts, is incompatible with the Western/European values. Elections must be conducted in a fully proportional system, with a natural barrier threshold, as this is the only remedy against the existing polarization, as well as against the decades long malicious practice of one-party and one-man rule.

5) When in a deep crisis such as we have today, with all the threats that Georgia faces, the Government should have the sense of responsibility to set the day for new elections. Only authoritarian rulers do otherwise and this is not compatible with Western/European values.

I expect that these will be the messages of Mr. Danielsson during his second visit.

Moreover, I expect that similar messages will be voiced by all our Western friends.

This is the only solution in the current circumstances, because this is the truth.

The attempts to modify or “soften” this truth with messages such as “both sides are responsible for this situation” or “both sides have to find it in them to overcome the differences and come to a compromise” are doomed.

Because this is not the truth.

After the eight-year rule by Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream, I do not understand where is my responsibility when it comes to:

- political persecution of the opposition;

- politicized judiciary managed by a clan;

- election system and administration that are at service of the ruling party;

- concentration of all power in the hands of one man who is not occupying any official position;

- extreme polarization of the political spectrum, the main architect of which is Georgian Dream, which has spent eight years on hate propaganda and has chosen the “middle ground elimination”, as its main political competition strategy at each election.

I also do not understand what can possibly be a compromise, as far as the clauses left by the EU Council President are concerned, except for technical details.

- Leave some control over judiciary to Ivanishvili?

- Allow for somewhat unfair elections, so that GD prolongs its rule?

- Leave all power levers for Ivanishvili and agree to some symbolic changes?

- Disregard all the above and come to terms with the Ivanishvili’s rule for the next four years?

That’s impossible. More than that, to agree to that would be irresponsible, would be equivalent to ignoring the problems and further prolonging the crisis.

Our Western partners have to realize this and therefore change the approach towards the negotiation process.

Source: https://girchi.org/ge/media/news/79-my-expectations-christian-danielssons-visit-georgia-and-our-western-friends-and

In the early minutes of March 31, after mediating an eight-hour meeting between the ruling Georgian Dream and the opposition parties, Christian Danielsson, EU Council President Charles Michel’s Personal Envoy to mediate Georgia’s crisis, said he was “sad to report that none of the political parties could agree to this solution in whole.”

Danielsson publicized the document he proposed the parties for agreement. While the Georgian Dream and the opposition leaders traded accusations afterward over the failure to strike the deal, it seems the parties largely agreed on the electoral reform, judicial reform, and parliamentary power-sharing points. They failed, however, as expected, to reach a consensus over the release of alleged political prisoners and the issue of future elections.

The opposition’s key demand for snap elections – fiercely rejected by the GD government – was not reflected in the public document. It referred, however, to the prospect for the release and dropping charges against Nika Melia, top opposition leader, by initiating amnesty for June 2019 unrest participants. This passage did not include the release of Giorgi Rurua, pro-opposition Mtavari Arkhi TV shareholder, whom the opposition also regards as a political prisoner.

Danielsson is now expected to update President Michel about the development in the coming days, while it remains unclear whether the EU mediation efforts will continue.

“This is a solution that requires political courage and responsibility,” stated the EU diplomat. Below are the main takeaways of the text Danielsson put forward, that the parties rejected to fully endorse.

Source: https://civil.ge/archives/409492

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has officially nominated incumbent Defense Minister and previously Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili for the prime ministerial post, GD Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze announced after the meeting of the GD political council on Thursday.

Kobakhidze believes Gharibashvili would successfully lead the Cabinet.

“Irakli Gharibashvili is one of the GD leaders, former Interior Minister, Prime Minister, and current Defence Minister. Paramount reforms were implemented under his management. He is a professional with outstanding experience who can successfully head the government,” Kobakhidze stated.

Earlier today, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced his resignation following the court ruling to arrest the Head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia. Gakharia said he failed to reach an agreement with GD over Nika Melia’s case.

Source: https://1tv.ge/en/news/gd-nominates-irakli-gharibashvili-for-premiership/

“The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has discussed election report prepared by Tini Kox today and reiterated that the elections were competitive and free in Georgia,” Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream Party, stated on Monday.

According to him, PACE approved the observation mission’s report, including recommendations.

“This recommendation reflects our will. In particular, to check all violations revealed in this election. That’s why we’ve proposed the opposition to set up a parliamentary commission,” GD Chairman said.

Irakli Kobakhidze stresses that the CoE calls on the opposition to engage in parliamentary work. “We hope the opposition will take these statements into account,” he said.

He also echoed the decision on re-electing him as PACE Vice-President. “I am happy to be approved as PACE Vice-President for the second term in a row,” Kobakhidze added.