Foreign ambassadors urge gov't, opposition to "uphold" March agrement on elections
The group of foreign dignitaries involved in facilitating the talks includes EU ambassadors. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
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Foreign ambassadors in Georgia, who have been working as facilitators in the dialogue between the government and opposition on 2020 election model, on Monday responded to calls to confirm contents of the March 8 agreement between the two parties by calling on them to "uphold" the deal.
The dignitaries, who played a major role in talks that saw the two sides agree on the model for the 2020 vote, released their statement following an earlier urge by Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze, who asked them to confirm its content.
Talakvadze had asked the facilitators to confirm that the deal involved no promise by the ruling party to release opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava, Irakli Okruashvili and Giorgi Rurua, currently in detention. The opposition earlier made the claim on the condition having been part of the deal and accused the ruling party on failing to fulfill it.
In their response the ambassadors said it was "not our role to make the content of those discussions public or to interpret the agreement" and added the deal was "well-known to the public".
We call upon all sides to uphold the letter and spirit of both parts of the agreement with a view to its successful implementation," reads the statement by the facilitators.
The statement called the March 8 deal a "historic achievement by the political forces of Georgia" that involved "difficult compromises" for the participants.
Earlier on Monday, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said any risk to successful implementation of the agreement was "absolutely unacceptable", following the allegations by the opposition about the ruling Georgian Dream party's refusal to fully abide by it.
In his own reaction, Talakvadze accused the opposition of deceiving the public through its statements regarding the content of the deal, which was struck behind closed doors.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that the placement of the ruling party and the opposition March 8 election agreement at any risk is ‘absolutely unacceptable’, responding to the opposition’s allegations that the Georgian Dream ruling party refuses to fully abide by the agreement.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has urged foreign ambassadors, who mediated election talks between the ruling party and the opposition, to confirm that the Georgian Dream ruling party made no promise to release opposition leaders and members in the March 8 election agreement.
Besik Tamliani, who stands charged with violence and disobedience to police during the June protests in Tbilisi last year, has been refused bail.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that it is fulfilling all the conditions of the election agreement made with the opposition last week with the mediation of the diplomatic corps, responding to allegations of the opposition regarding the release of imprisoned opposition leaders and members.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has denied to participate in parliament's work despite the recent election deal with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party last week, stating that not all conditions of the agreement have been fulfilled.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch has posted on his Twitter account that he expects political parties in Georgia to fully implement the March 8 agreement. At the same time Risch shared a statement released by the US Embassy on the March 8 agreement.
Georgian opposition parties, who came to an agreement with the ruling Georgian Dream party on March 8 on how to hold the 2020 elections, will resume discussions later today on how to make the government ‘fully abide with the agreement’ and ‘release imprisoned opposition leaders’.
Foreign ambassadors in Georgia, who have been facilitating the political dialogue between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition over the 2020 parliamentary election model, welcomed President Salome Zurabishvili’s decision to pardon opposition politicians Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili.
Opposition parties accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of endangering the March 8 election agreement ‘once again’ as Tbilisi City court denied bail to the co-founder of opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua earlier today.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has responded to a MEP from Poland Anna Fotyga that opposition leaders Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili were not ‘political prisoners.’ On May 15 President Salome Zurabishvili pardoned Ugulava and Okruashvili as she said to ‘discharge the situation.’