EU Ambassador Hartzell: happy to see 148 MPs in Georgian parliament
EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell has called upon the United National Movement opposition party to sign the EU-mediated agreement. Photo: EU in Georgia press office.
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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.
Hartzell said that now it is significant for the UNM to sign the EU-mediated agreement which was proposed by European Council President Charles Michel back in April 2021 to help Georgian political parties resolve the tension in the country which began after the October 2020 parliamentary elections.
The agreement covers election related issues, including the issue of repeat parliamentary elections and obliges the signatories to participate in large-scale electoral and judicial reforms.
The agreement also proposes amnesty for those imprisoned as a result of the June 2019 protests in Tbilisi which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament.
Statement by the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia and the United States Embassy on the implementation of the EU-mediated agreement of 19 April
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) May 30, 2021
➡️ https://t.co/wTY56YHa5v pic.twitter.com/4LeM9LMoZC
The head of the United National Movement party Nika Melia is charged with violence during the June protests.
The UNM says that it refused to sign the EU-mediated agreement because of the amnesty issue which it included.
They believe that the policemen who violated the law during the protests must not leave prisons.
The amnesty bill which was submitted by the ruling Georgian Dream party says that all convicts for June protests should be released.
Hartzell has stated that it is important for parties to come to an agreement on the amnesty bill, in line with the EU-mediated agreement.
He also said that large-scale judicial reforms should boost transparency and accountability of the system and the trust.
Currently only Elene Khoshtaria, who appeared in parliament via the party list of the European Georgia opposition party and Shalva Natelashvili from the Labour Party have not taken up their mandates.
The UNM, European Georgia and the Labour Party have not signed the EU-mediated agreement so far of the nine political parties which won seats in the 10th convocation of the state legislature.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party MPs attended their first session in the 10th convocation of the state legislature earlier today after a six-month political standoff.
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 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 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.