Parliament committee chair: consultations with European bodies will ensure no ambiguities on deoligarchisation bill
Okhanashvili noted Georgian authorities had used the Ukrainian model of the law, with the latter having been “positively assessed” by the “highest ranking officials” of the EU. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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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.
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 bill which is being considered for approval.
Proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of work for fulfilling conditions for obtaining the EU membership candidate status, the bill has already been adopted with its first and second readings, with only the final reading ahead.
In order for there to be no ambiguities and to make this issue clearer, we are holding consultations with the European bodies, since it is known to us that the Venice Commission is working on a conclusion on this bill, although we are clarifying these issues”, the parliament official said.
Okhanashvili noted Georgian authorities had used the Ukrainian model of the law, with the latter having been “positively assessed” by the “highest ranking officials” of the EU.
In its comments on the bill, a section of opposition has said it “must include” Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling party and former prime minister, as a “shadow ruler” of the country, while authors of the bill have pointed to criteria for defining oligarchs as outlined in the document and said mentioning specific names in the bill would be “very undemocratic”.
While in Georgia last week, Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, said that legal amendments requested by the bloc “do not apply to specific individuals”.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the ruling team had decided to forward the domestic bill on deoligarchisation for comments to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.
The European Union representation in Georgia on Monday welcomed the decision of the ruling Georgian Dream party to send the domestic deoligarchisation bill to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe for recommendations before its final approval.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the ruling team had taken into account the recommendations of Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, and the EU ambassador to Georgia, on forwarding the domestic bill on deoligarchisation for comments to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.
Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and the secretary general of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the Georgian government would “do everything” to ensure implementation of European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.