Parliament Speaker Talakvadze: ‘If a US mayor embezzled 10% of a city’s budget, would he be a political prisoner?’
Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has responded to statements made by the US legislators on Georgia’s election agreement. Photo: Parliament of Georgia press office.
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has responded to the statement of US Senator James Risch on an agreement between the ruling party and the opposition, stating that there are no political prisoners in Georgia.
Yesterday Risch urged political parties in Georgia to ‘fully implement’ the March 8 election agreement, ‘including the release of political prisoners and progress towards a new electoral system.’
I expect Georgia’s political parties to fully implement their March agreement, including the release of political prisoners and progress towards a new electoral system. https://t.co/0nSWlZN9gJ
— U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SenateForeign) May 12, 2020
The Georgian opposition claims that alongside the electoral model for the 2020 parliamentary elections, the ruling party also accepted the release of former Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava, former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili and a co-owner of one of the opposition-minded TV channels in Georgia Giorgi Rurua.
Talakvadze says that the ruling party had made no such promise as it would be unacceptable and undemocratic and would amount to interference in a judicial issue.
In his statement Mr. Risch calls upon political parties and not only the ruling party to fully abide by the agreement. As for mentioning political prisoners, I can say that there are no political prisoners in Georgia. If a mayor of the US capital embezzled the 10 per cent of the city’s budget, would he be a political prisoner?” Talakvadze told Rustavi 2.
He said that Risch is a friend of Georgia and he will be fully informed regarding the issue.
Talakvadze also responded to US Congressman Adam Kinzinger by saying that the congressman simply expressed his hope that the agreement will be fulfilled.
Perfectly said. It is imperative to finally implement this agreement and move on. https://t.co/pgJWlhUEmA
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) May 11, 2020
Talakvadze stated that the recently released text by the foreign ambassadors who mediated the election talks in Georgia ‘should be read as it is written (without looking for some subcontext).
The ambassadors said in a joint statement yesterday that ‘we note that this agreement is composed of two parts — one focused on the election system and the other on addressing the appearance of political interference in the judicial system. We call upon all sides to uphold the letter and spirit of both parts of the agreement.”
Talakvadze says that the ‘appearance of political interference’ does not mean that the interference really takes place.
A bill has been registered in parliament per the agreement of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the opposition on March 8.
The US Department of State has welcomed an agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition on how to hold the 2020 parliamentary elections, stating that is a ‘crucial step towards depolarisation and normalisation of the political environment in Georgia,’ in the run-up to the race.
US Senators Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,and Jeanne Shaheen,a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, have welcomed a recent agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition on how to hold the 2020 parliamentary elections, stating that making the deal will benefit the democratic development of the country.
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.
Parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition members, who resumed discussions earlier today, said in a joint statement that the March 8 election agreement with the ruling Georgian Dream party is doomed to fail if the government ‘won’t fully abide by the agreement’ and remain opposition leaders behind cells.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili announced today that she is pardoning Georgian opposition politicians Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili, which she said was ‘a very difficult decision’. Salome Zurabishvili said although she is very well aware of the ‘real actions and crimes’ of the two former officials, Ugulava and Okruashvili, nevertheless, as the president, she is pardoning them for the sake of 'the country’s interests’.