Ruling party secretary vows “consensus-oriented” approach to public defender election
In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze said the ruling authorities would object if any of the candidates presented by the domestic opposition on the position had been "observed in political activities" . Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
Tweet 
Share
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.
In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze said the ruling authorities would object if any of the candidates presented by the domestic opposition on the position had been "observed in political activities" .
“You know that we will not present a candidate - we left this privilege to the opposition, although we were not obliged to do so, but we did not make it a subject of speculation", he noted on the election of a new ombudsperson.
The only disagreement that could be on our part is if any of the candidates presented by them have been observed so far to be involved not in protection of rights but in political activities”, the GD official said.
Mdinaradze stressed the ruling team had a “greater responsibility" to "somehow try to reach a compromise” to elect the public defender, in order to fulfil one of the conditions of the European Union.
On August 31, Mdinaradze 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.
On September 19, Irakli Kadagishvili, the chair of the rules and procedural issues committee of the parliament of Georgia, said the parliamentary majority and the opposition would find a “worthy” new candidate for the position of the public defender who was “not a representative of a certain political team or course”.
The Georgian parliament on Thursday adopted an initiative for electing the country’s next public defender by an open ballot.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Saturday said the domestic opposition was “fully responsible” for the failure of the Public Defender election.