Ruling party accuses President of “hampering” National Bank’s operation, says it will overcome her veto on bill

The ruling Georgian Dream party on Wednesday accused the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili of “hampering” the National Bank of Georgia’s operation by preventing appointment of members to its vacant board positions, and said it would overcome the Presidential veto on a bill of amendments on the institution in response.

The party said Zourabichvili had previously agreed to nominate candidates to two vacant positions in the NBG board, with deadlines in February and March noted during consultations between her and GD.

However, the party said Zourabichvili had failed to nominate candidates for the positions - including the agreement’s part where she had been allegedly supposed to present Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili to one of the vacant board positions. 

It added Zourabichvili had also said she would refuse to make nominations until the end of the year, a development GD said meant a failure to fulfil her responsibilities and creation of obstacles to “proper functioning” of the institution.

The statement also said the agreement between the sides involved Zourabichvili presenting the candidates in exchange for a GD pledge of not attempting to overcome her veto on a ruling party-proposed bill on the Bank in February, in which she claimed the amendments would “undermine” the independence of the NBG, and added there was “no need” to add members to the NBG board or an interim President, if the position became vacant. 

The party said Zourabichvili had failed to fulfil her side of the pledge by refusing to nominate the candidates, and added the continued vacancies made the election of the new Chair of NBG “impossible”. 

Such neglectful attitude by the President towards one of the most important constitutional institutions is in direct contradiction with her constitutional responsibility. There are clear signs that the President is purposefully creating an obstacle to smooth operation of the Bank”, the party said, adding it would complete the procedure to overcome her veto in the next week of Parliamentary sessions.

Its comments also stressed the ruling team would “not allow an institutional crisis [to form] in any state institutions” and would take “necessary actions” for their “uninterrupted  functioning”. 

The Georgian constitution authorises the President to nominate candidates for the NBG board, with the nominees then voted on in the Parliament, making it necessary for the President and the ruling party to come to an agreement on the candidates for the institution's “uninterrupted work”, the ruling party said.