Ruling party head says deoligarchisation bill would not be approved without “consensus among radical” opposition, EU, NGOs
In his remarks, Kobakhidze stressed the issue required a “consensus of all stakeholders” involved in implementation of the EU conditions. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
Tweet 
Share
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.
In his remarks, Kobakhidze stressed the issue required a “consensus of all stakeholders” involved in implementation of the EU conditions.
If there is a consensus around this bill, we will pass it. If there is a consensus around not passing it, then we will not pass this bill. [...] If the radical opposition, the European Union and NGOs agree that the bill [for] deoligarchisation is not to be adopted, we will not adopt it. We are fulfilling the requirements of the European Union. If the European Union is also of the opinion that we should not adopt the law, we will not adopt it”, the GD official said.
In further comments on the domestic opposition’s relation to the bill, Kobakhidze noted “some people” from the opposition parties were “afraid of this bill” as they saw it “endangering certain opposition leaders”.
They admitted that they have oligarch leaders in the opposition, and everyone knows it - [former United National Movement defence minister and private TV channel owner David] Kezerashvili, [TBC Bank founder Mamuka] Khazaradze are ordinary oligarchs. They naturally do not want their leaders to be in danger. Therefore, they are against this law”, he continued.
The party chair also commented on the statement of Pawel Herczynski, the European Union ambassador to Georgia, who on Tuesday said the ruling team’s allegations of a part of domestic opposition and some Ukrainian government officials calling for an opening of the second front of the war in Ukraine in Georgia were ”so absurd that I don't think I should even comment, it's simply pure nonsense”.
Kobakhidze said Georgian authorities offered “moderate” responses to diplomats, before noting the “fact” of the calls for the second front was “clear”.
These are the leaders of the radical opposition [and] high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian government - they coordinate with each other [in the objective of Georgia joining the hostilities]. The public knows this, we are talking about it”, he concluded in his comments.
Gia Volski, a ruling party MP and the vice speaker of the Georgian parliament, on Tuesday called on the United States and the European Union to “distance themselves” from statements from some Ukrainian government figures about the need to “see Georgia engage in war” amid the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory.
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”.
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said “de-oligarchisation” was “not really” a challenge in the country but vowed to have consultations with European Union bodies over the matter to “get more specifics and explanations”.
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.
Georgia is a small country, we have a lot of challenges, some of the territories are occupied and we need “stronger” partners and allies, as well as “strong relations” with “everyone”, especially with our “main partners” - the United States and the European Union, the Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Tuesday.
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.
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”.
Thea Tsulukiani, the vice prime minister of Georgia, on Tuesday said a part of the domestic opposition was “playing with the country’s fate” with its refusal to join the work for receiving the European Union membership candidate status and its stance against bills proposed by the ruling party for the purpose.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said he had addressed Claire Bazy Malaurie, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, with a request for an “urgent opinion” on the proposed domestic bill for deoligarchisation.