Conservatives leave ruling party, cite rejected election bill as reason
The leader of the Conservative Party Zviad Dziguri says that the rejection of the election bill was unjustified.Photo: conservative party press office.
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Three MPs of the Conservative party have left the Georgian Dream ruling party after the parliament rejected the ruling party proposed election bill yesterday on the transition to a fully proportional electoral system from 2020.
The leader of the party Zviad Dzidziguri, who is also a vice parliament speaker, says that the “40 ruling party MPs, who refused to vote for the bill, have made us make the decision.”
Dzidziguri has stated that the Conservatives “have always played a team game.”
However, we are not going to stay there where politically and morally unjustified decisions are made,” Dzidziguri said.
Two other Conservative MPs who have left the ruling party are Giga Bukia and Nino Goguadze.
Dzidziguri says that the remaining three members of the faction of the Conservative party [the faction is composed of six MPs] will make decisions on their own.
Conservatives were one of the parties of the Georgian Dream coalition created by Bidzina Ivanishvili which defeated the nine-year-rule of the United National Movement leadership back in 2012.
As of now 12 MPs have left the ruling party due to the scrapped bill.
US Congressman Adam Kinzinger, one of the initiators of the US Support Act to Georgia, has stated that that the failure [of the Georgian parliament] to deliver constitutional amendment [on Thursday] will be a gift for Russian President Vladimir Putin.“The failure will destroy the progress Georgia has made to reach complete independence and separation from an aggressive, encroaching neighbor in Russia,” Kinzinger wrote.
Georgian opposition parties and young civic activists who participated in June’s anti-occupation rallies have set out their main demands after the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party proposed election bill was scrapped on Thursday.
Giorgi Begadze is the ninth MP to leave the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party after the recent rejection of the GD-proposed election bill. Begadze is the majoritarian MP of the ruling party in Rustavi, a town close to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
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EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has met with the head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Bidzina Ivanishvili and Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze to “find solutions” after the rejection of the ruling party proposed election bill in parliament yesterday. Hartzell stated that the EU expected tension to follow the rejection of the bill.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party says that public trust and support and not electoral systems wins elections, responding to the tension triggered after the rejection of the GD proposed election bill yesterday, offering the transition to a fully proportional electoral system from 2020 instead of 2024.“The election reform is still in progress, and with the maximal fulfilment of OSCE recommendations, it will lead to even more transparent and fair election environment for the next year,” Talakvadze said.
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The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has nominated candidates for parliamentary posts after 12 of its MPs left the party in the wake of the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill on November 14.
MP of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Akaki Zoidze, who chaired the Healthcare Committee in parliament, has announced he is leaving the ruling party and politics, citing the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill as the reason.
MP of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Aleksandre Erkvania has announced he is leaving the ruling party, citing the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill as one of the reasons.