Parliament EU Integration Committee Chair: meeting with MEPs “has not said” deoligarchisation envisages solutions “tailored to one person”
Botchorishvili stressed the deoligarchisation condition was about a “systemic approach”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Friday rejected the notion that her meeting with a delegation of the European Parliament had tied the deoligarchisation condition for Georgia’s European Union membership status to “solutions tailored to one person”.
[W]e talked about the conditions [outlined by the EU for granting Georgia the candidate status] and its content - including the deoligarchisation issue - although I can't say that I heard from any of [the MEPs] that this includes solutions tailored to one person. Such a thing was not said”, the Parliament official said.
Botchorishvili stressed the deoligarchisation condition was about a “systemic approach”.
The delegation of MEPs departed on Friday after holding a series of meetings with almost all domestic political players and non-governmental organisations. They held discussions with Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, President Salome Zourabichvili, members of the opposition parties, Public Defender and NGOs.
The 12-point conditions set by the EU for granting the country the membership candidate status covers moves for depolarising the domestic political environment, “deoligarchisation”, judiciary reforms and other issues.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on July 12 said the “campaign of so-called ‘deoligarchisation’”, which he claimed was organised by “internal or external political opponents”, involved a “completely unsubstantiated accusation” against former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili and was aimed at “discrediting” the current governance system in the country.
A European Parliament delegation that was on a visit to Georgia this week left the country on Friday after receiving a present from a civic activist living in central Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday welcomed a delegation of the European Parliament on a visit to the country to discuss the European Council's “historic” decision on granting the country the European perspective and review prospects of deepening cooperation.
In a letter addressed to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said allegations on the Georgian Government being run by the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili were “offensive to me personally and to my country”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said the “campaign of so-called ‘deoligarchisation’”, which he claimed was organised by “internal or external political opponents”, involved a “completely unsubstantiated accusation” against former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili and was aimed at “discrediting” the current governance system in the country.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the bill on deoligarchisation, a draft addressing one of the conditions of the European Union for granting Georgia the membership candidate status, would not be passed by the ruling team if consensus among the nongovernmental sector, the “radical” domestic opposition and the EU was against it.
Anri Okhanashvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament's legal affairs committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the working group engaged in implementing European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status was preparing to present its bill on deoligarchisation.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said there was “no evidence” that the former prime minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili influenced domestic political processes or interfered “in any way”.
Georgian culture minister Tea Tsulukiani on Wednesday said the “radical part” of the domestic opposition was“utterly disappointed” by the recent move of the ruling Georgian Dream party to propose a bill on deoligarchisation as part of the conditions set by the European Commission in June for Georgia’s membership candidate status.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday called on the United States ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan to “be clear in her statements” regarding the issue of deoligarchisation in the country.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the chair of the Georgian parliament’s committee on human rights, on Monday said the law on deoligarchisation, designed to address one of the conditions of the European Union for granting Georgia the membership candidate status, was not created “in favour or against specific persons”.