Ruling Party Secretary announces departure of MPs from party, parliament following disagreement
The Executive Secretary said the three MPs believed the party needed to release more “behind the scenes” information on “political developments”, adding “they have decided they need a free parliamentary mandate for voicing it”. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
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Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday announced the departure of three MPs from both the party and the parliament following their disagreement over public relations strategy with the rest of the faction.
Mdinaradze said the move by Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze followed them voicing their view that the “dosage of information” received by the public from the ruling party on “political subjects in our country and our team” was not adequate to keep citizens informed and “make the right conclusions”.
The Executive Secretary said the three MPs believed the party needed to release more “behind the scenes” information on “political developments”, adding “they have decided they need a free parliamentary mandate for voicing it”.
In his comments, Khundadze told local media he and the other MPs shared the “same values” as the party and agreed on “every topic”, except for the question of the “extent of truth to be conveyed to the public”. He added the departure would see the MPs take up a position “closer to the public”.
Recognition of Georgia's European perspective through the decision of the European Commission on Friday is “undoubtedly a step forward”, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the Georgian Dream ruling party, said on Friday.
Georgia has been waiting for an official recognition of its European perspective for many years, and the Government is pleased that this perspective has been officially recognised by the European Commission, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Friday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said the resolution on violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Georgia, adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday, had been initiated by the European People's Party, and called the United National Movement domestic opposition party the EPP’s “main ally”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday said he remained “optimistic” that a “sensible decision” would be made by the European Commission on the country’s European Union membership bid, which he said would be in the “best interest of both sides”.
Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze, the three MPs who left the ranks of the ruling Georgian Dream party on Tuesday, issued a joint statement earlier today saying they had decided to set aside party affiliation in a bid to inform the public about behind-the-scenes dealings of the domestic opposition that they claimed were aimed at causing “unrest and war” in the country.
Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze, the three MPs who left the ranks of the ruling Georgian Dream party this week, on Thursday said the decision of the European Council not to grant Georgia the European Union membership candidate status outright contributed to an “opposite effect” of the objective of depolarisation of its domestic political environment, a qualification included in the body’s requirements to the country.
The 12 conditions outlined by the European Council for granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status later this year are seen as part of the “revolutionary plan” of the “radical opposition” in the country, three MPs who left the ruling party last week to publicise “behind-the-scenes developments” of the domestic political field said in a statement on Monday.
Guram Macharashvili, a member of the Parliamentary majority, on Thursday said he was leaving the ruling Georgian Dream party and would join three MPs who exited the team last month following a disagreement over the public relations strategy with the rest of the faction.
MPs and members of city councils who have left the ruling Georgian Dream party over the past month following a disagreement over the public relations strategy with the rest of the team on Thursday declared the founding of a public movement.