10th parliament of Georgia holds first session, no opposition MPs present
All eight opposition parties and blocs which were voted in on the October 31 parliamentary elections have refused to participate in the first session of the new parliament. Photo: Teona Tskhomelidze.
Tweet 
Share
The 10th convocation of the parliament of Georgia is holding its first session today following the October 31 parliamentary elections and the second round of elections on November 21.
No opposition MPs from the eight parties and election blocs that were voted into parliament are attending the session.
Five of eight opposition parties and blocs have signed a memorandum earlier today in which they do not recognise the election results, and demand the conduct of repeat elections and refuse to take up their mandates.
The parties which signed the memorandum are the United National Movement opposition party, European Georgia, Lelo, Labour Party and Strategy Agmashenebeli, while Girchi, Republicans and Citizens did not join the memorandum.
Five opposition parties have signed a memorandum earlier today that they will not enter parliament. Photo: IPN.
Girchi said that they will not enter parliament. However, the party leaders stated that there was no necessity of signing the memorandum.
The Republicans stated that they will request the suspension of their mandates after the negotiations between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition are completed.
The EU and US ambassadors, who are negotiating the election talks between the ruling party and the opposition, have said in a joint statement earlier today that ‘we regret that it was not possible to reach a broad-based agreement before the first convocation of the new parliament, despite the party leaders’ efforts’.
The statement said that over the past six weeks, Georgia’s political leaders have engaged in ‘intense political dialogue’.
While important issues remain unresolved, the parties succeeded in reaching a preliminary understanding on comprehensive electoral reforms that, once adopted, will significantly improve future Georgian elections. We commend the party leaders from all sides for their constructive participation and achievements so far in these difficult negotiations,” said the ambassadors.
Statement by the United States Embassy and the Delegation of the European Union to Georgiahttps://t.co/FtqN8KpmT1
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) December 11, 2020
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who opened the parliament’s first session earlier today, has stated that ‘it is very undemocratic when parties refuse to take up their mandates in parliament because they failed to win, and are demanding repeat elections without the presence of any genuine evidence that the elections were fabricated.’
She said that Georgians are tired of ‘moving around in a circle’ and of permanent attempts of various political parties to spark destabilisation from the street.
What Georgia needs is depolarisation, solidarity and unity,” Zurabishvili said.
Ruling party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze has urged the opposition to enter parliament and participate in the work of an investigative commission.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has opened the first session. Photo: IPN.
We have stated that if the parliamentary commission says that even one per cent of votes was rigged or falsified, repeat elections will be conducted,” Mdinaradze said.
Ruling party MP Irakli Kobakhidze said that ‘I am sure a big portion of opposition will enter parliament in the coming days’.
88 of 90 ruling party MPs are attending the session, while all 60 opposition MPs are absent.
Civic activists are holding a rally in front of parliament, stating that the elections were fabricated.
The fifth round of election talks mediated by foreign ambassadors between the ruling Georgian Dream party and eight opposition parties and blocs has been postponed.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has promised that they will accept repeat elections if a temporary investigative commission created by the 10th convocation of the parliament of Georgia reveals that at least 1% of votes were rigged or falsified. Kobakhidze commented on other issues related to the parliament, noting that parties that do not take up their mandates in parliament will not receive budgetary funding and other benefits.
The newly elected 10th national legislature of Georgia will hold its first session on December 11, at 12:00, the decree by the president of Georgia reads.
Georgia is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on Saturday, amid the coronavirus pandemic, with citizens going to the polls to elect the country’s 10th national legislature since independence from the Soviet Union back in 1991. For the first time, the elections will be held per a mixed electoral system, with 120 members of parliament (MP) to be elected via party lists and the remaining 30 running in single-member majoritarian districts.
Five opposition parties and election blocs that were voted into parliament have submitted a request to Georgia’s Central Election Commission asking for their party lists to be annulled, meaning candidates on the lists would not be able to replace opposition MPs who will officially refuse to take up their mandates in parliament.
Archil Talakvadze has been elected chair of the Georgian parliament with 86 votes earlier today, during the first session of the 10th parliament of Georgia.
Germany and France have issued a joint statement earlier today calling Georgia their ‘close partner’ which has ‘undergone tremendous democratic changes in the last two decades’, including the strengthening of its ties with NATO and the European Union, in which it plays ‘an exemplary role’.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has officially nominated Giorgi Gakharia for premiership.
One opposition MP has decided to enter the Supreme Council of Adjara which is the legislative body of Georgia’s Autonomous Republic of Adjara in the west.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has initiated a bill which says that if political parties refuse to take up their mandates in parliament they will not receive state funding (or have it suspended for a year), their MPs will not receive salaries and they will not be able to use free media time during municipal and parliamentary elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party nominee for the country’s premiership Giorgi Gakharia has presented his cabinet to parliament to be voted on, as well as a government programme - ‘Building of a European State.’ 10 of the 11 candidates in the cabinet remain unchanged, while former deputy Justice Minister Gocha Lortkipanidze was nominated to take over as justice minister.
The Alliance of Patriots opposition party has requested the parliament suspend the status of their four MPs.
The parliament of Georgia has confirmed Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and his cabinet of ministers with 85 votes in favour and none against. 10 out of 11 members of the cabinet remain unchanged; only former deputy Justice Minister Gocha Lortkipanidze will temporarily take over as justice minister before he officially takes up the position of judge at the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
One of the main faces of the European Georgia opposition party, Elene Khoshtaria, has left the party and announced the creation of a new political force.
International leaders have congratulated Giorgi Gakharia on his reappointment as Georgian Prime Minister. Gakharia has received letters of congratulation from Ukrainian, Slovak, German, Estonian, Italian and Azerbaijani leaders.
"I have made the decision to finally retire from politics and fully distance myself from the reins of power. I am leaving the post of party chairman, as well as the party itself and am returning to my pre-2011, private lifestyle. I will turn 65 years old in just a few weeks, and this is one of the important factors in making the decision to retire from politics,” Ivanishvili said, adding that the step ‘which is dictated by the desire to advance young people to the forefront...will not only not weaken, but will, in fact, further strengthen the ruling party.’
Members of the Girchi and Citizens opposition parties which have won six seats in the 150-member parliament in the October 31 elections met earlier today to discuss the current political crisis and made an offer to other opposition parties.
"Regrettably the Georgian opposition parties, alleging widespread fraud, announced that they would boycott the second round of elections (in November 2020) and the new parliament. This is especially regrettable given that the results for opposition parties in these elections would give them a strong position to execute parliamentary oversight. Parliament is the place for the conduct of politics and debate and PACE has therefore consistently opposed parliamentary boycotts,” reads the report which was adopted yesterday.
Six of eight opposition parties and election blocs who have won seats in the 10th convocation of the Georgian parliament have released a joint statement earlier today in which they said that ‘only the conduct of repeat, democratic parliamentary elections can solve the current political crisis’.
Opposition MPs from Citizens party Aleko Elisashvili and Levan Ioseliani have decided to enter parliament, Elisashvili has confirmed with journalists earlier today.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell, who is one of the facilitators in the ongoing election talks between the ruling party and the opposition, says that the refusal of parliament to vote for the suspension of status for 51 opposition MPs yesterday was ‘the right step.’
Members of the European Parliament working on Georgian issues - Sven Mikser, Andrius Kubilius, Markéta Gregorová, Michael Gahler, Petras Auštrevičius and Viola von Cramon - have expressed their concern regarding the ‘careless breach of privacy’ regarding opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV director Nika Gvaramia by ruling party MP Tea Tsulukiani, as well as her ‘unflattering attitude’ towards the EU ambassador to Georgia.
The Georgian parliament has formed a temporary commission to investigate alleged election violations and their impact on the results of the October 31 parliamentary election. The legislators have agreed to establish the three-month commission at a plenary session earlier today.
Georgian opposition parties say that Christian Danielsson, who is the EU mediator in the talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition, will stay in Tbilisi until the parties come to an agreement on the issues of repeat parliamentary elections and the release of opposition leader Nika Melia.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has released its opinion on several Georgian bills and has called on the country ‘to reconsider several amendments to the Election Code, the Law on Political Associations of Citizens and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia.’