Georgian parliament to elect public defender by open ballot
The term of office of the current public defender, Nino Lomjaria, expires at the end of the year. The parliament must elect the new ombudsperson in December, a decision that requires the votes of 90 MPs. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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The Georgian parliament on Thursday adopted an initiative for electing the country’s next public defender by an open ballot.
Levan Ioseliani, a Citizens opposition party leader who initiated the bill, said the amendment would ensure “transparency and inclusiveness” of the process and allow the public to follow the “consistency of the decision” of the members of the parliament.
The parliament supported our initiative, which involves cancelling the secrecy of the public defender's election and introducing openness. The mentioned change will help ensure that the procedure of electing the public defender is conducted in a transparent and inclusive manner”, Ioseliani noted.
The term of office of the current public defender, Nino Lomjaria, expires at the end of the year. The parliament must elect the new ombudsperson in December, a decision that requires the votes of 90 MPs.
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”.
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.
Georgian public defender Nino Lomjaria on Friday said 161 cases of discrimination had been identified by her office across the country in 2021, as she presented the annual report on the state of human rights protection at a plenary session of the parliament.
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.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said “many people” in the domestic opposition had been “ready for a consensus” in agreeing on a candidate for the next Public Defender, but added the process had failed in the Parliament due to an “ultimatum from NGOs”, and called the development a “sad reality”.