Ruling party head: deoligarchisation bill will not be approved until December
In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze noted European partners, including the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, had “personally” asked the Georgian Prime Minister not to adopt the bill. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the ruling team would take into account requests of European partners and not approve the domestic bill on deoligarchisation - designed to address one of the conditions for Georgia to be granted the EU membership candidate status - until December.
In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze noted European partners, including the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, had “personally” asked the Georgian Prime Minister not to adopt the bill.
We were planning to adopt the law on deoligarchisation in its final, third reading next week, although you know that the Prime Minister had a visit to Brussels, meetings were held at the highest level, including with Charles Michel, the European Commissioner, and a request was made [there] that this law should not be adopted in the third reading at this stage. Accordingly, we certainly take into account this request”, Kobakhidze said.
“In any case, we will wait for the position expressed by the European Commission and the European Council in December. Regarding this topic, we are interested in whether the issue of deoligarchisation, which in itself implies a personalised approach, will be removed. Until then, we are not going to return to the consideration of this bill”, he concluded.
The Council of Europe Venice Commission’s opinion last week recommended the Georgian authorities to drop the legislative piece - which it said was using a “personalised”, instead of “systemic”, approach to curbing oligarchic influence on the domestic politics - and instead implement a wide range of systemic reforms to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of wealthy individuals.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday claimed the opinions of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the European Commission on the Georgian deoligarchisation bill “contradict each other”.
The Georgian parliament on Tuesday passed the deoligarchisation bill, with 81 votes against two, in its second reading, proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of the work to meet the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting its membership candidate status to the country.
Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Tuesday said the legislative body would withdraw the bill on deoligarchisation, a part of conditions for the country to obtain the European Union membership candidate status, if the European Commission considered it “unnecessary” for the country.
The Legal Affairs Committee in the Georgian Parliament on Wednesday supported the amended version of the deoligarchisation bill - proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of the work to meet the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting its membership candidate status to the country - with the majority of votes.
Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Thursday said the ruling team had “positive” expectations regarding the oral report by the European Commission on the implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on Thursday said Georgia had fulfilled three out of the 12 priorities outlined by the European Union for granting the country its membership candidate status, in his oral interim report on Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova on the implementation of the EU reforms.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Friday said the European Commission’s oral report on Georgia’s implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the former body last year for granting the country the European Union’s membership candidate status had “confirmed the efforts” by domestic authorities to meet the recommendations.
Charles Michel, the European Council President, on Thursday pledged his body’s support for Georgia’s European integration efforts, saying “much” in the process would be dependent on the country’s implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the bloc last year for granting its membership candidate status to Georgia.
The Georgian Government on Monday announced it would develop an action plan to address the task of deoligarchisation in the country “in accordance with the Venice Commission opinion and the requirements of the European Union”, ahead of the bloc’s decision whether to grant Georgia its membership candidate status later this year.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said the country’s deoligarchisation reform - aimed to meet one of the conditions outlined by the European Commission last year for granting Georgia the European Union candidate status - was “voluminous and detailed”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said the Government meeting during the day would approve the deoligarchisation action plan aimed to meet one of the conditions outlined by the European Commission last year for granting Georgia the European Union candidate status.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said the Government had approved the deoligarchisation action plan, aimed to meet one of the conditions outlined by the European Commission last year for granting Georgia the European Union candidate status.