Ruling party won’t vote for several candidates for Supreme Court judge
The candidates for the Supreme Court judge will be voted on Thursday. Photo: Supreme Court.
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The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party says it will not vote for several of 20 candidates running for a seat as a Georgian Supreme Court judge, during the voting scheduled on December 12.
Ruling party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze said that it was one of the three issues discussed at the ruling party meeting late on Monday.
The remaining two issues concerned elections.
Mdinaradze said that the ruling party will make an agreement with several of its majoritarian MPs who offer the move to a fully majoritarian elections “with the final deal announced in 2-3 days.”
The final issue discussed, as Mdinaradze said, was the offer of the opposition on making 10 majoritarian constituencies instead of 73 for the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Mdinaradze stated that the ruling party will possibly have an answer for the offer at the end of the week.
Eleven majoritarian MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, who rejected the party proposed bill on an early transition to a fully proportional elections on November 14, are set to collect 200,000 signatures from voters to initiate a bill to parliament on the transition to a fully majoritarian elections from 2024.
Head of the Georgian Constitutional Court Zaza Tavadze, who is on the 20-person list presented to parliament for a lifetime appointment as a judge on the Georgian Supreme Court, has withdrawn his candidacy, citing controversies related to his higher education.
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.
The High Council of Justice of Georgia, a body which is responsible for the selection and appointment of judges in the country, has presented a final, 20 person list, for judges to the Supreme Court, including Chief Prosecutor Shalva Tadumadze and his deputy Mamuka Vasadze.
Twelve individuals including opposition leaders and members have been detained at parliament earlier today for ‘hooliganism and disobedience to the police’, during a rally opposing a 20-person list of judges nominated for seats on the Georgian Supreme Court. Opposition leaders and members Giorgi Vashadze, Giorgi Tevdoradze, Beso Gazdelian, Guram Chalagashvili, Zurab Kostava, David Kakauridze and Kakhaber Machitidze are among the detainees.
A break has been announced in parliament as an unclear substance has been spilled in the session hall with a “very unpleasant smell”as MPs say, causing a delay in a major vote today on the controversial list of judges for the Georgian Supreme Court. Emergency brigades and law enforcers are present at the scene, as several of the MPs feel ill.
The Georgian parliament has approved 14 of total 19 candidates for lifelong judges of the Georgian Supreme Court amid protests of the opposition and civic groups. Prosecutor General Shalva Tadumadze, his deputy Mamuka Vasadze and Secretary of Georgia’s High Council of Justice Giorgi Mikautadze are among those approved.
The US Embassy said that the candidate selection process in the High Council of Justice “lacked transparency and resulted in a slate of nominees that did not fully represent the best qualified candidates”.
The Georgian Interior Ministry is investigating who spilled a noxious substance in parliament early yesterday, leading to a pause in the parliamentary session ahead of a major vote and the need to summon ambulances for several MPs.
The European Union has issued a statement on the recent lifetime appointment of 14 Supreme Court judges in Georgia. New EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano released a statement yesterday.