Opposition MP says idea of technical government “has failed”
The opposition MP claimed the local NGOs had effectively “assisted” the ruling Georgian Dream party in “strengthening its positions” with their participation in the protest, stressing the latter “must be allowed” to fulfil the conditions outlined by the Council. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Citizens opposition party MP Aleko Elisashvili on Monday said the idea of a “technical government” in the country had “failed” as he accused non-governmental organisation representatives of “turning into politicians” and deciding to “overthrow the Government” before “declaring themselves ministers” in a rally held in Tbilisi on Sunday.
Elisashvili was commenting on a rally in support of Georgia’s European integration, which followed an earlier call by the civic movement Shame for the formation of a “technical interim government of national accord” that would be tasked with implementing the 12 recommendations issued by the European Council for Georgia to receive the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
The opposition MP claimed the local NGOs had effectively “assisted” the ruling Georgian Dream party in “strengthening its positions” with their participation in the protest, stressing the latter “must be allowed” to fulfil the conditions outlined by the Council.
For all normal Georgians, the most important political task is for Georgia to receive the European Union membership candidate status in December. They [EU] told us very clearly what we should do and in what time frame - we have to complete this task by the end of December. As a rule, all normal Georgians should think about how to force Georgian Dream to fulfil these conditions”, Elisashvili said.
He noted a “sea of people” had come out onto the streets during the Sunday protest to make sure “no one dares to try to return the country back to Russia” and demand a fully-fledged EU membership.
However, the NGO members turned politicians decided to overthrow the Government and declare themselves ministers at the rally. Of course, this amusing idea of a ‘technical government’ has failed [as a result]. And what I said a few days ago has happened - the NGO members turned politicians have assisted the Georgian Dream party in strengthening its positions”, the opposition MP said.
Elisashvili rejected the demand of a “technical government”, stressing the need for a focus on fulfilling the European Council conditions.
If we want the membership candidate status, we must allow the Government to fulfil the conditions. [...] Implementing the 12 conditions in the next six months is the most important thing in this period”, he concluded in his comments.
The United National Movement opposition party and its satellites have “no resources” to organise “unrest and revolution” in Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Monday.
A protest rally was called on Monday outside the Government Administration in Tbilisi by the civic movement Back Home to Europe, with organisers pledging to launch other demonstrations across the country.
Civic activists, citizens, students and members of domestic opposition parties are gathered at a rally in support of Georgia’s European integration in capital Tbilisi, after the demonstration was called earlier by the civic movement Shame.
The ruling Georgian Dream party on Friday presented its strategy for fulfilling the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Council for granting the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
Levan Ioseliani, a member of the Citizens opposition party and the Vice Speaker of the Parliament, on Tuesday said the domestic opposition should work with the proposals presented by the ruling Georgian Dream party for fulfilling the European Union’s conditions for obtaining the membership candidate status later this year in addition to presenting its own vision.
Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chairman of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Tuesday called on the domestic opposition to “abandon” its “revolutionary scenario”, recognise the results of the recent elections and stop using “political slogans that torpedo the political process” in the country.
Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Rati Ionatamishvili on Tuesday said “any political party or group” that refused to participate in the implementation of the European Union’s recommendations for granting the membership candidate status to Georgia would “automatically be labelled as a Russian hybrid force”.
Khatuna Samnidze, an opposition MP and the Chair of the Republican Party, on Thursday said it was “wrong” on the part of a section of the opposition to reject election campaigning by claiming the Georgian Dream Government would not let itself be replaced through voting.
Levan Ioseliani, a member of the Citizens opposition party and the vice speaker of the Georgian parliament, on Monday said the opposition United National Movement party was “collapsing” and finding it “difficult to make decisions” without the imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili.