Parliament committee chair says public defender candidate should be “worthy”, not representative of “certain political team or course”
In his remarks over the ongoing work for selecting the new public defender, Kadagishvili noted the parliament’s voting for the position had become “open”, a change he said would “significantly” contribute to an “inclusive” selection process for candidates. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Irakli Kadagishvili, the chair of the rules and procedural issues committee of the parliament of Georgia, on Monday said the parliamentary majority and the opposition would find a “worthy” new candidate for the position of the public defender who is “not a representative of a certain political team or course”.
In his remarks over the ongoing work for selecting the new public defender, Kadagishvili noted the parliament’s voting for the position had become “open”, a change he said would “significantly” contribute to an “inclusive” selection process for candidates.
The [parliamentary] majority is not going to put forward its candidacy and will try to find a candidate - together with the opposition - who will be worthy and will not be a representative of a certain political team or course”, the parliament official said.
On August 31, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, announced the party would not be presenting a candidate for the position of public defender, and the nomination would be “completely entrusted” to the opposition and civil sector.
Mdinaradze said the party would be involved in the process only in case it became “artificially blocked or sabotaged” by the opposition, and noted the parliament would “without delay” register changes in related regulations defining general criteria for evaluating the candidate.
Georgian Parliament on Thursday adopted the draft amendments to the regulations on the procedure of electing a new Public Defender with 80 votes at the second reading of the bill.
The ruling Georgian Dream party is ready to implement the rule for electing a Prosecutor General with a 3/5 quorum, as agreed by the Georgian political groups last year, within the framework of the EU-mediated agreement, proposed by European Council President Charles Michel, said Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling party on Thursday at a briefing.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday, announced that the party would not be presenting a candidate for the position of Public Defender, and the nomination of a candidate would be “completely entrusted” to the opposition and civil sector.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said domestic opposition parties were “trying their best to sabotage” the process of the implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.
The Georgian parliament on Thursday adopted an initiative for electing the country’s next public defender by an open ballot.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the party would be "consensus-oriented" on the issue of the election of a new public defender, reflecting one of the conditions of the European Union for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Ana Abashidze, the managing director of Partnership for Human Rights organisation and civil society organisations’ nominee for the position of public defender, on Thursday said she had “positive expectations” and praised the “unprecedented engagement and transparency” in the selection process of the new ombudsperson, a part of the European Union’s conditions to grant Georgia the membership candidate status.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the parliament, on Monday proposed consultations with opposition groups for an agreement on a joint candidate for the position of the new public defender.
The committee on human rights of the Georgian parliament on Monday supported all candidates nominated to become the next public defender with a majority of votes.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Head of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said GD would support an “honest, impartial and qualified” candidate as the country’s new Public Defender.