UPDATED: parliament passes bill allowing gov’t to impose restrictions without its consent
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Updated: 6:48
The Georgian parliament has passed a bill with its third and final reading earlier today which allows the government to impose movement, labour, migration, economic and other restrictions without the declaration of the state of emergency.
94 MPs in the 150-member parliament voted for the bill, no one was against.
The opposition boycotted the vote.
Earlier: 6:16.
A bill proposed by ruling Georgian Dream MPs, which allows the government to impose movement, labour, economic and other restrictions without the declaration of the state of emergency, has been passed in its second reading earlier today.
Just one reading, which mostly concerns technical issues, is left before the final approval of the bill.
The bill says that the government will be able to impose the restrictions temporarily, until July 15.
The government says that they need a mechanism to keep the situation under control.
Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said that the end of the state of emergency and curfew today does not mean that the coronavirus is defeated.
PM Giorgi Gakharia says that lifting all the coronavirus-related restrictions will not be reasonable. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
He stated that Georgia has become a role model for many countries for its effective fight against the coronavirus and the country needs to act cautiously to defeat the virus and recover its economy.
The opposition refused to participate in the voting, calling the bill ‘dictatorial, giving the government a lever for political repressions and violation of human rights’ in face of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The ruling party says that the accusations are ‘absolutely groundless’ as the bill proposes only temporary restrictions if they are necessary taking the general situation into account.
The United National Movement opposition says that the bill is 'dictatorial'. Photo: 1TV.
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria said that many of her recommendations regarding the bill have been taken into account in the bill.
However, she said that several of her recommendations have not been considered, like the rapid judiciary control on the restrictions allowed by the bill or the existence of a special rule for appealing the decisions on placing someone under quarantine or self isolation.
She said that the authors of the bill say that the problematic issues are already regulated by other laws.
The two-month state of emergency as well as curfew will end in Georgia at 00:00 on May 23, lifting movement and other, coronavirus-related restrictions in Georgia. "The restriction which banned more than three people in a car will only be maintained for taxis. Restrictions for public and municipal transport, at the border and for certain economic activities, will remain in force,” Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says.
Georgia has reported eight new cases of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 721. 485 of the 721 patients have recovered, while 12 others have died. As of May 21, 224 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Georgia has maintained a low infection rate over the past several days. The country is scheduled to end the state of emergency and curfew tomorrow.
Georgia has reported just one new case of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 702.465 of the 702 patients have recovered, while 12 others have died since the outbreak of the infection. As of today, 234 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Several villages in the Bolnisi municipality of eastern Georgia, which have been under strict lockdown for two months, opened earlier today.
Georgia has reported six new cases of coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 701. 432 of the 701 patients have recovered, while 12 others have died.As of May 18, 257 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Today, the municipality of Marneuli in eastern Georgia, which has been under lockdown for 56 days, has opened.
The 63-day state of emergency has come to an end at 00:00 on May 23, lifting movement and other coronavirus-related restrictions in Georgia. However, the restriction banning more than three people in a car will be maintained for taxis. No public and municipal transport will be available at this point.
Two people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Georgia increasing the total number of cases to 730 in the country. Meanwhile, 13 infected individuals have recovered bringing the total recoveries to 522.
Fines imposed for violating the restrictions implemented by Georgia for the prevention of the spread of the coronavirus exceeds the income ratio imposed by Western European, Scandinavian and other developed countries and are disproportionately high relative to the income of the Georgian population, says the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information( IDFI) in its report ‘Measures against Covid-19 - International Practice.’
The Georgian parliament has allowed the government earlier today to impose movement, labour, migration, economic and other restrictions without the declaration of a state of emergency, that is, without the approval of the legislative body. A bill passed in May 2020 allowed the government to use the right only temporarily up until July 15, 2020. 76 MPs voted for the change and two went against it, with the United National Movement and the European Georgia opposition parties refusing to vote at all.