MEP Kaljurand: Georgians’ refusal to take to streets after Saakashvili’s call is a signal
MEP Marina Kaljurand has called on Georgian political parties to focus on the issues which trouble people and not on their own political interests.
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MEP Marina Kaljurand says that Georgians’ refusal to take to the street after the country’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s recent calls was a ‘signal’ for her that the ex-president has lost his power.
Kaljurand stated during yesterday’s online conference organised by the Georgian Institute of Politics that Saakashvili violated the law when he returned to Georgia ahead of the October 2 municipal elections and that his return after eight years in political exile allegedly had an influence on the electoral process.
Kaljurand also said that the EU will ‘observe closely’ all news around Saakashvili, who is currently serving a term for abuse of authority while in power and has been charged with several other cases.
She stated that the Georgian people are tired of political polarisation and are waiting for political parties to focus on their problems and take actions to resolve them.
Kaljurand said that as the ruling Georgian Dream party received more than 43 per cent of the vote in the proportional part of the municipal elections, the issue of holding of snap parliamentary election in 2022 has been removed from the agenda, per the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement.
Now the political parties in parliament should be focused on major issues for the country and put the state interests above their own political interests,” Kaljurand said.
She has agreed with the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary findings on the elections and stated that the election day was ‘well-organised.’
We would like to recognise that Georgia, a key partner of the European Union, conducted a competitive and well-managed first round of the local elections on 2 October, despite the extremely polarised political environment and challenging epidemiological situation. https://t.co/FNAQJxb6yw
— Marina Kaljurand MEP (@MarinaKaljurand) October 5, 2021
The government should now ensure thorough investigation of all alleged violations,” Kaljurand said, adding that elections are not only the election day itself.
She has expressed hope that despite the withdrawal from the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement the Georgian Dream ruling party and the government will carry out the major judiciary and electoral reforms which were proposed by the document.
Kaljurand stated, however, that a ‘workable’ parliament is unlikely without the inclusion of opposition.
Kaljurand, who was appointed by the European Parliament as a co-facilitator of a political dialogue between Georgian political parties in the state legislature within the the EP’s Jean Monnet Dialogue, says that the fate of the dialogue will be clarified after the second round of mayoral runoffs in Georgia on October 30.
MEP Marina Kaljurand has stated that Georgian political parties should accept the results of the upcoming municipal elections if the OSCE/ODIHR recognises the legitimacy of the race. In an interview with the Georgian bureau of Voice of America (VOA), Kaljurand also said that the European Parliament expects ‘free, fair and open elections’ to be held in Georgia on October 2.
MEP Marina Kaljurand has urged Georgia’s former president Mikheil Saakashvili to refrain from provocations, use his political capital to depolarise the pre-election situation in Georgia and respect the OSCE/ODIHR conclusion on the October 2 municipal elections in Georgia. Kaljurand’s tweet comes after MEPs met with Saakashvili yesterday in Brussels.
The European Parliament has appointed MEPs Marina Kaljurand and Miriam Lexmann to co-facilitate Georgian parliamentary mediation and dialogue with MEP Viola von Cramon, who will chair the EP’s Jean Monnet Dialogue for Peace and Democracy, the European Parliament Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) has reported.
MEP Marina Kaljurand has once again urged Georgian opposition MPs to take up their parliamentary mandates in line with the EU-mediated agreement.
Lithuanian members of European parliament (MEP) Andrius Kubilius and Rasa Jukneviciene call on all Georgian political forces ‘to start building bridges enabling normal democratic political dialogue, return to the pro-European reform track and focus on achieving very much needed progress in country’s development for the benefit of the Georgian people’.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party may not be able to form a majority in Zugdidi city assembly in western Georgia after a recent recount of invalid ballot papers in four polling stations per the request of the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party.