US Senators, Congressmen welcome UNM’s signing of EU-mediated agreement, but say the step is ‘belated’
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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.
Kinzinger and Connolly, who also co-chair the House Georgia Caucus, say that the UNM’s step to join the agreement will discharge political tension in the country.
They said that they will proceed with their calls on all Georgia political parties to stand united on issues which are important for state development.
The Georgian Dream (GD) party withdrew from the agreement ‘because the main opposition, the UNM, refused to join the agreement, while other opposition parties were constantly violating it.’
100 days after signing the April 19 Agreement, majority of Georgian opposition MPs and parties refused to sign it, declined to work to fulfill it, and voted against it.
— Georgian Dream (@GeorgianDream41) July 28, 2021
Therefore, Georgian Dream declares the Agreement void, but continues to adhere to its provisions in principle. pic.twitter.com/pEHuLN3T6r
The agreement was proposed by European Council President Charles Michel and aimed to help Georgian political parties resolve a more than six-month political standoff in the country which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The document proposed large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms and obliged the ruling party to accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections if it received less than 43 per cent of votes in the October 2 municipal elections.
The UNM refused to join the agreement because it disapproved of a stipulation in it which offered amnesty to individuals convicted for violence and abuse of authority during the June 2019 protests in Tbilisi, which were sparked by the presence of Russian legislators in the Georgian parliament – this included police officers, which was the main objection of the party.
Current head of the UNM Nika Melia is also charged with violence during the protests.
The UNM was against the release of law enforcers who were convicted for abuse of authority during the June 19 rally dispersal in central Tbilisi.
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
Now the UNM says that they ‘stand above the stipulation’ because the country’s European course is at a serious risk under GD leadership.’
The UNM believes that despite the GD’s backing out of the EU-mediated agreement the ruling party will have to accept repeat parliamentary elections 'because they will receive less than 43 per cent of the vote in the upcoming elections.’
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili says that the UNM’s recent decision ‘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.
Garibashvili said that the GD will not rejoin the agreement, but stated that the government remains committed to the reforms proposed in the agreement.