Opposition MPs to leave parliamentary committees
Oppositional MPs are demanding early parliamentary elections per the German electoral model which distributes seats based on the votes received in party-list [proportional] voting. Photo: parliament of Georgia press office.
Tweet 
Share
Several opposition MPs from the European Georgia party have submitted statements regarding their exit from parliamentary committees amid protests in Tbilisi sparked by the rejection of the election bill on November 14.
The European Georgia opposition party is participating in the demonstrations, demanding the conduct of the 2020 parliamentary elections per the German electoral model and by an interim government.
The MPs who are about to leave the committees are:
- Sergi Kapanadze - member of Parliament's Education Committee.
- Elene Khoshtaria - member of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee.
- Irakli Abesadze and Otar Kakhidze - members of Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee.
- Lasha Damenia and Lela Keburia - member of Parliament’s Regional Policy Committee.
“Even though several irresponsible politicians believe that attacking police, breaking into-parliament or blocking the work of the legislative body is their freedom of expression, we, the state government, fully realise the importance of the democratic development of the country and our response to such actions will be fully in line with the law, full of responsibility to our citizens and reasonable,” Gakharia said.
Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has urged opposition MPs, who are now protesting the rejection of an election reform bill on the streets, to return to the legislative body and voice their demands in parliament.
The BBC, Washington Post and Deutsche Welle have released news on the ongoing Tbilisi protests which were sparked after the rejection of the election reform bill on November 14.BBC has cited campaigners as saying that the current, mixed-electoral system in Georgia favours the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012.
Law enforcers and emergency brigades are present at parliament in central Tbilisi, as last week the opposition announced “a large-scale rally and the blocking of the work of parliament” on November 25 and 26. The leader of the European Georgia opposition party David Bakradze says that rallies will continue until the current state leadership “takes genuine steps to ease the current tension."
The opposition and civil activists , who have been protesting for two weeks due to parliament’s rejection of the ruling party’s proposed election bill, have announced a 'large rally' at parliament when MPs will be scheduled to vote on a 20-person list of candidates for judge in the Georgian Supreme Court. The opposition, which strongly disapproves of the list, vows the rally will lead to the fulfilment of the demonstrators’ demands.
Six demonstrators have been detained by police earlier today for hooliganism and disobedience to law enforcers at a rally near the National Library in central Tbilisi.
About 30 opposition parties, including the parliamentary opposition, have presented an ‘adapted version’ of the German electoral model for Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections amid protests in Tbilisi sparked by the rejection of the ruling party proposed bill which offered an early transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 2020 instead of 2024.
Businessman Mamuka Khazaradze’s new civic movement Lelo, former Parliament Speaker Davit Usupashvili’s Movement for Building and the New Rights party have announced the launch of political cooperation.