Renewed EU-backed compromise: early elections in 2022 if ruling party gets less than 43% in upcoming local elections
Opposition politicians are ready to sign the renewed document. They expect the ruling party will do the same. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
Tweet 
Share
Several changes have been made to the European Union-backed compromise to end the political crisis in Georgia.
Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia Carl Hartzell, who introduced the changes to politicians earlier today, said this is a proposal that President of the European Council Charles Michel ‘views as balanced and realistic’.
President of the European Council Charles Michel @eucopresident publishes new proposal made today to all Georgian political parties.https://t.co/Vv5eBTP0Hl
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) April 18, 2021
Carl Hartzell said after the meeting that 'some parties indicated before this meeting the need to consult the new proposal and we have taken that into account'.
Therefore, he said, the mediators are now looking forward ‘to again convincing the parties back here with the view to finalising this process as a way forward and end Georgia’s current political crisis’.
Watch Carl Hartzell's full comment:
The renewed text of the EU-proposed document reads that following the offer made by the Georgian Dream on April 16 ‘early parliamentary elections shall be called in 2022 if the Georgian Dream party receives less than 43% of valid proportional votes in the October 2021 local self-government elections’.
- The initial text of the EU-proposed agreement on March 31
- The renewed text of the EU-proposed agreement on April 18
Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze said signing the initial document last Friday that if the ruling party will receive less then 40 per cent of votes in this year’s local government elections, the party will discuss the issue of holding the repeat parliamentary elections.
The EU Delegation to Georgia has tweeted:
Press statement of @CarlHartzellEU on today’s EU-mediated political dialogue.https://t.co/3foUxzRPep pic.twitter.com/NJ6C0gVURr
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) April 18, 2021
However, the ruling party leaders, who did not attend today's meeting at the EU headquarters, released a statement earlier today calling on the opposition to 'put the country's interests above all' and sign the document.
The opposition politicians have been refusing to sign the initial document because it did not include the holding of repeat parliamentary elections and the release of 'political prisoners' - opposition United National Movement chair Nika Melia and co-founder of opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV Giorgi Rurua.
The renewed document now says that 'within one week of signing this agreement, the two cases of perceived politicized justice' should be addressed 'either by an amnesty and/or by taking such steps as to produce an equivalent outcome'.
This is why almost all of the opposition politicians attending the meeting today have expressed their willingness to sign the renewed document after they consult with other members of their respective parties. They hope the Georgian Dream will do the same.
Spokespeople of the High Representative of the European Union/Vice-President of European Commission and the United States Department of State call on all members of the parliament of Georgia to sign the agreement that President of the European Council Charles Michel will propose today.
The United States Embassy to Georgia and the European Union Delegation welcome the resumption of contacts between the ruling party and opposition ‘as a sign of willingness to continue consultations to reach a broad-based agreement’ to end the current political crisis.
Opposition United National Movement members refuse to sign any agreement with the ruling Georgian Dream party until their leader Nika Melia is released from prison. UNM member Koba Nakopia said until ‘the chair of the main opposition party is detained’ the agreement with the Georgian Dream is ‘impossible’.
European Parliament members Viola von Cramon-Taubadel and Marina Kaljurand call on the Georgian opposition to follow the example of the ruling party and sign the EU-proposed agreement to solve the current political crisis.
Three MPs of the Girchi party have signed, while Lelo has stated they will also sign the new proposal by the EU to solve the political tension in Georgia which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The agreement released by the European Council President Charles Michel on the weekend offers a pardon for all violations and convictions stemming from the 19-21 June 2019 protests in Tbilisi and says that if the ruling party fails to receive at least 43 per cent of votes in this year’s municipal elections, they should accept the conduct of repeat parliamentary elections.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has stated that they are ready to sign the new proposal by the EU to solve the political tension in Georgia which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections. The agreement released by the European Council President Charles Michel on the weekend offers a pardon for all violations and convictions stemming from the 19-21 June 2019 protests in Tbilisi and says that if the ruling party fails to receive at least 43 per cent of votes in this year’s municipal elections, they should accept the conduct of repeat parliamentary elections.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has stated that she will pardon the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua if Georgian political parties sign the new proposal by the European Council President Charles Michel to solve the political tension and if opposition MPs take up their mandates.
Georgian non-governmental organisations Transparency International Georgia, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, and Georgian Young Lawyers Association state that all political parties should sign the new proposal by the EU to solve the political tension in Georgia which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has announced today that she will pardon opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV co-founder Giorgi Rurua on April 27. Zurabishvili had stated earlier on April 19 that she would pardon Rurua if Georgian political parties signed the renewed EU-proposed agreement and if opposition MPs entered parliament.
Opposition politicians who signed the EU-mediated agreement on April 19 have called on others to consolidate their efforts and make the ruling party fulfil its obligations. They also call on the opposition politicians who refuse to sign the document to take more responsibility on the current political processes.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has hosted opposition MPs at the Orbeliani palace to discuss current political affairs. President Zurabishvili met separately with leaders of Girchi, Citizens, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Lelo for Georgia and Repulican Party, as well as MP Salome Samadashvili.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has named all of the 63 (three female and 60 male) candidates in all of the municipalities for the upcoming October 2 local elections. The Georgian Dream, which has recently withdrawn from the EU-mediated agreement, says the announcement of early parliamentary elections will not in a any form depend on the results of the upcoming municipal elections.