Georgian Parliament overrides President's veto on ruling party’s bill on National Bank

The Georgian Parliament on Tuesday overcame Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto on the amendments to the law on the country’s National Bank proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party.

With 82 votes and nine against, the legislative body supported the original version of the draft law at a plenary session, after the failure of the motivated remarks on the bill submitted by the President, the Parliament press office said.

The new amendments introduce a new position of the First Vice-President of the National Bank in addition to the already existing three Vice-President positions, which will perform the duties of the President in the latter's absence.

Zourabichvili vetoed the ruling party-proposed bill in February, claiming the amendments would “undermine the independence” of the NBG and adding there was “no need” to add members to its board, or an interim President, if the position of the Chair became vacant. 

Following the ruling party's claims last week that Zourabichvili was “deliberately hampering” the bank’s “uninterrupted operations” by not presenting candidates for two vacant positions in its board for voting in the Parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the GD party, earlier today announced his party would “definitely override” President’s veto to “prevent a potential institutional crisis”. 

In his comments, Kobakhidze said passing the bill would prevent potential threats to the “proper functioning” of NBG, adding it was a “fact” that the President’s moves were “encouraging a crisis” in the institution.

The party also accused Zourabichvili of “violating” a deal struck earlier this year, in which GD claimed the President had accepted to nominate Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili to the board in exchange for the party’s pledge not to override her veto on the amendments.

Responding to the ruling party’s allegations last week, the President’s office accused GD and the Government of “exerting pressure” on Zourabichvili to nominate Khutsishvili for the vacant post, alleging she saw the Minister as a “professional [individual], but affiliated [him] with the Government”.