Lelo opposition party to participate in Parliament bills on EU membership conditions “only in institutional format”

The Lelo opposition party will participate in all bills in the Georgian Parliament related to the 12-point conditions established by the European Union for granting Georgia the membership candidate status later this year, but only in an “institutional format”,  Badri Japaridze,  leader of the party said on Tuesday.

Japaridze said the party was refusing to participate in Parliamentary commissions established by Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, because they were “created by Kobakhidze”, adding the latter and the ruling party “had a desire for an equal relationship” with the opposition, they would have first agreed on its work format with members of opposition before announcing it.

The opposition party will still take part in committees and plenary sessions of the legislative body, the party leader also noted. 

Kobakhidze on July 1 said “everybody” from the domestic opposition should be involved in the process related to Georgia obtaining EU membership candidate status. The Parliamentary working group, created to review judicial reforms for fulfilling conditions outlined by the EU, held its first meeting on July 11.

A part of the Parliamentary opposition has rejected participation on the grounds of having no confidence in the ruling Georgian Dream party, and demanded “concrete compromise steps” to be included in the process.

On July 15, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili accused the opposition of “sabotaging” the process of fulfilling the EU conditions. Papuashvili referred to the opposition parties of United National Movement, Lelo and Strategy Aghmashenebeli and said their refusal to take part in the work was not a boycott, but a “sabotage of the process”.