Opposition forms new faction in parliament - Charles Michel’s Reforms Group
The new, multiparty faction is composed of five opposition and two independent MPs. Photo: netgazeti.
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Five MPs of three opposition parties and two independent MPs have formed a new faction in the Georgian state legislature with the name Charles Michel’s Reforms Group.
The chair of the new faction, Republican MP Khatuna Samnidze, has stated that the faction ‘will do its utmost’ for the full implementation of the EU-mediated agreement which was proposed by the European Council President Michel back in April 2021 and was signed by the majority of Georgian political parties.
The signing of the agreement, which includes notes on Georgian election issues as well as fundamental electoral and judicial reforms, resolved a several-month political crisis in Georgia which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Agreement in #Georgia
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) April 19, 2021
Sakartvelos Gaumarjos!
Congratulations to political leaders on signing the deal out of the current crisis.
You put the people's interests first and let democracy prevail.
Thanks to President @Zourabichvili_S and all parties. pic.twitter.com/cBm4pRQwWr
MPs from the Republican Party, Strategy Agmashenebeli, Girchi More Freedom and independent MPs Grigol Vashadze and Tariel Nakaidze are the members of the new, opposition faction.
Only three of nine political parties which won seats in the country’s parliament in the 2020 elections have not signed the EU-mediated agreement so far.
The three parties are the United National Movement opposition party, European Georgia and the Labour party.
Unlike the European Georgia and the Labour party, the United National Movement have not signed the agreement but entered the state legislature.
Four of five MPs, who appeared in parliament via the party list of European Georgia, including Tariel Nakaidze, left party, signed the EU-mediated agreement and took up their mandates.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan is pleased that the opposition United National Movement party is entering the parliament. However, she is disappointed that the party has decided not to sign the EU-mediated agreement so far.
The UNM announced it would be taking up its mandates in parliament late yesterday, after a six-month political standoff, saying that the reason they declined to sign the EU-mediated agreement is that ‘it includes several notes which are unacceptable for us.’ The embassies said in a joint statement that the agreement proposed by the European Council President Charles Michel back in April 2021, which was signed by six Georgian political parties and individual MPs, contains topics which are crucial for the country’s further democratic development.
Opposition United National Movement (UNM) members will take up their parliamentary mandates after almost a six-month boycott, party chair Nika Melia has announced after the party’s political council meeting today.
The United States welcomes the agreement reached by the government of Georgia and several opposition parties on April 19, under the mediation of European Union President Charles Michel, to bring an end to Georgia’s political crisis, announces the US Embassy to Georgia.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has stated that he is happy that the United National Movement opposition party MPs attended the parliament session yesterday after a six-month political standoff, adding that the presence of 148 MPs in the 150-member parliament allows the state legislature to start working on important issues.
The Georgian parliament has rejected the opposition’s amnesty bill for the June 2019 protests which was drafted following the EU-mediated agreement back in April 2021.
Two Georgian parliamentary factions, Lelo-Partnership for Georgia and Charles Michel’s Reforms Group have signed a memorandum earlier today which aims to push Georgia’s and Ukraine’s NATO membership.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has annulled its signatory status to the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which resolved a six-month political crisis in the country following the 2020 parliamentary elections and proposed large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze stated earlier today that the agreement initiated by the European Council President Charles Michel ‘had completed its mission’ and accused opposition parties of non-fulfilment of the agreement.
An “important political statement” for Georgia was made by James Appathurai, the NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, in his address to the Georgian Parliament, Teona Akubardia, a member of the Parliamentary political faction Reform Group said on Wednesday.