Parliament official: Opposition “fully responsible” for Public Defender election failure
The Georgian Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new Public Defender, with none of the 19 candidates presented to the legislative body chosen for the position. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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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.
In his comments to the media, Sarjveladze said the ruling Georgian Dream party had conceded the opportunity of nominating a [Public Defender] candidate to the opposition, under the condition that they would present seven candidates for the position, which they did not fulfil and reneged on their “promise”.
The Committee Chair added that the opposition had refused to work with the ruling party on implementing the 12-point recommendations set by the European Union in June for granting Georgia the membership candidate status and stressed their “actions”, to fail the fulfilment of the 12-point conditions, had aimed to “obstruct” the ongoing implementation process.
The Georgian Parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new Public Defender, with none of the 19 candidates presented to the legislative body chosen for the position.
Selection of an “unbiased” Public Defender is one of the 12 conditions [outlined by EU]. The approval of a new Public Defender will require at least 90 votes in the 150-member Parliament, which means the ruling party - which currently has 75 MPs - and the opposition need to cooperate for the selection.
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”.
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 on Thursday failed to elect the Chair and members of the country’s Central Election Commission after the candidates proposed by President Salome Zourabichvili did not receive support from MPs.
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.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament from the ruling Georgian Dream party, has been elected a member of the Global Rule of Law Commission in the European Public Law Organisation, the Parliament press office said on Monday.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said the ruling team was ready to “once again” concede the task of selecting candidates for the country’s new Public Defender to the domestic opposition.
The Citizens opposition party will nominate one of its leaders Levan Ioseliani for the position of the new Public Defender of Georgia, the party revealed on Tuesday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday praised Levan Ioseliani, an opposition MP from the Citizens party, as a “worthy” nominee to become the country’s new Public Defender.
The Georgian Parliament on Tuesday supported the candidacy of Levan Ioseliani, an opposition MP from the Citizens party, for the position of the Public Defender of Georgia, in a move that concluded a delayed period of candidate selection and vote for the position.