Parliament committee chair: deoligarchisation law “not in favour or against specific persons”
Sarjveladze noted there was “no objective basis” for a conclusion over the relevance of the initiative to the former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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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”.
Sarjveladze noted there was “no objective basis” for a conclusion over the relevance of the initiative to the former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The main thing for the concept of an oligarch is of a person using the government for their own interests and having specific influences in relation to the government. In this case, we do not have it”, he said in relation to the former PM.
“I rule out the application of this law to Bidzina Ivanishvili personally. As for other people, anyone who may have [above-mentioned] influences may naturally be subject to the regulation of this law”, the parliament official said.
On October 3, Anri Okhanashvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament's legal affairs committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, said the working group engaged in implementing European Union conditions was preparing to present its bill on deoligarchisation.
Okhanashvili noted discussions on the bill would begin after the Council of Europe's Venice Commission submitted its report on the Ukrainian version of a similar initiative.
Okhanashvili stressed the goal was to achieve the amendments through a “broad consensus”, and added views of “all political groups and international partners” on the issue would be “interesting”.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
The head of Georgia’s special state protection service will participate in the work of the country’s national security council as a permanent member.
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.
The Georgian parliament on Thursday approved the bill on deoligarchisation, a part of the conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status, in its first reading.
Gia Volski, a ruling party MP and the vice speaker of the Georgian parliament, on Thursday said the “main task” of the domestic opposition was to ensure the “destabilisation” of the political environment in the country, after a section of the opposition boycotted a parliament bill proposed for fulfilling European Union-outlined priorities for Georgia.
Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said the deoligarchisation bill proposed by the ruling party as part of work for fulfilling conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status was “free from political interests” as it was based on Ukrainian legislation.
The European Union representation in Georgia on Monday called on the country’s parliament to request recommendations from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and consider its feedback over the domestic deoligarchisation bill being considered for approval.
Anri Okhanashvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament's legal affairs committee, on Thursday said the ruling team was holding consultations with European bodies to make sure there were “no ambiguities” around the domestic deoligarchisation bill.
Anri Okhanashvili, the chair of the Georgian parliament's legal affairs committee, on Monday said the lawmaking body had not yet made a decision on whether the bill on deoligarchisation would be forwarded for comments to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the feedback received from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on the domestic bill on deoligarchisation, a part of the conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status, would be taken into account.