PM Garibashvili: UNM’s late signing of EU-mediated agreement is a farce, lie
Georgian Prime Minister Iralkli Garibashvili has stated that the ruling party will not rejoin the EU-mediated agreement. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that the decision of the largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), to sign the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement after more than four months since the document was signed by other parties ‘is a farce and lie.’
He said that the ruling party had waited for the UNM to join the agreement for 100 days and other opposition parties to fulfil the stipulations of the document which offered large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.
We will not rejoin the EU-mediated agreement (from which the GD withdrew in July). However, we are committed to continue the reforms outlined in the agreement,” Garibashvili said.
@UNMGeorgia signs the #EU-mediated agr't. @NikaMelia5: Despite some controversial clauses in the agr't that prevented us from signing the document, today, considering the risks looming over our statehood, it is our obligation to stand above our opinions & controversies, & sign it
— UNM Georgia (ენმ) (@UNMGeorgia) September 1, 2021
He stated that signing the agreement by the UNM would have the meaning when the GD and several opposition parties joined the agreement ‘thanks to the mediation of Georgia's good friends, European Council President Charles Michel’ and foreign ambassadors.
Garibashvili reiterated that the ruling party accepted the ‘compromise and signed the agreement’ to resolve the ‘artificial political tension in the country sparked by the opposition,’ who ‘without any evidence’ were accusing the government of fabricating the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Remarks by Ambassador Carl Hartzell after the signature of the 19 April Agreement by the UNM party Chairmanhttps://t.co/uFbxEs0FJI pic.twitter.com/MCDQcxXmiZ
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) September 2, 2021
The UNM ignored the calls of our partners to join the agreement and was engaged with trading to receive as much gain as possible from the situation,” Garibashvili said.
The UNM signed the EU-mediated agreement earlier today and stated that even though they disapproved one of the stipulations of the document, it was a ‘critical moment for the country’ and they decided to sign.
The EU and the US ambassadors have welcomed the UNM’s decision.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has welcomed the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party’s decision to sign the EU-mediated agreement and stated that ‘it is a good sign for strengthening Georgia’s path forward.’
The United National Movement (UNM), the largest opposition party in Georgia, has decided to join the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement after more than four months of refusing to do so.The UNM’s decision comes on the heels of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s withdrawal from the agreement at the end of July ‘because the main opposition, the UNM, refused to join the agreement,while other opposition parties were constantly violating it.’
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.
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.
US Senator Jim Risch and Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Gerry Connolly have welcomed the decision of Georgia's largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), to sign the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement after several months of refusing to do so. However, Risch was cited by Voice of America as saying that the UNM’s decision is ‘at least belated’ and that the party’s more than four-month hesitation encouraged the ruling Georgia Dream (GD) to withdraw from the agreement in July of this year.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze has responded to the criticism of the EU and US embassies on the removal of a stipulation from constitutional amendments on the election rule of Georgia's prosecutor general. Kobakhidze stated that the stipulation was ‘legal nonsense,’ noting that the US and EU ambassadors ‘are likely not to have had’ proper and correct consultations around the issue.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, Irakli Kobakhidze, says that the party ‘has no obligation’ to support the constitutional amendments which offer a lower election threshold for the next two parliamentary elections.
Ruling Georgian Dream party head Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said a reinstatement of the European Union-mediated agreement between Georgian political actors last year, a deal designed to resolve tensions stemming from the 2020 parliamentary elections, was “not possible”.