Parliament Speaker: efforts to separate citizens, Government in EU candidacy credit “Russian narrative”
In an interview with Imedi TV, Papuashvili said citizens were “in power” in the country through the Government having a mandate from them, and called the arrangement an “understanding of democracy”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said “any separation” between citizens and the Government of Georgia in assigning credit for the European Commission’s recommendation for the country to receive the European Union membership candidate status was a “Russian narrative”.
Papuashvili was making the comment in response to claims by a part of the domestic opposition to downplay the Government’s role in the Commission’s recommendation, made public this week, for the European Council to grant Georgia the status next month.
In an interview with Imedi TV, Papuashvili said citizens were “in power” in the country through the Government having a mandate from them, and called the arrangement an “understanding of democracy”.
There is a saying that belongs to Lincoln [the 16th President of the United States]: ‘democracy is made of the people, by the people, for the people’. The idea is that the people are in power, [government] has a mandate from the people, and it exists for the people. This is the understanding of democracy”, he said.
“Any separation of citizens and the Government is a Russian narrative. Therefore, this is, of course, an absolutely absurd argument, into which they want to drag us”, he alleged.
The idea of democracy is this - the Government is of the people, elected by the people and for the people”, the chief Georgian legislator continued.
Papuashvili stressed the country’s citizens had given the Governmental mandate to the ruling Georgian Dream party in their majority in the most recent Elections in 2020, with the mandate to apply for the EU membership, and further pointed out the ruling party had fulfilled this promise “in excess”, as the country was “about to receive” the membership candidate status.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday hailed Georgian people, “whose commitment to democracy and Europe no longer needs to be proven”.
The European Commission’s recommendation for Georgia to be granted the membership candidate status was discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, on Thursday congratulated the Georgian authorities and citizens on the European Commission’s recommendation for the country to be granted the membership candidate status.
Vedant Patel, the Deputy Spokesperson of the United States Department of State, on Wednesday welcomed the European Commission's recommendations for the enlargement of the European Union.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday congratulated the Abkhazian and Ossetian “brothers” on the European Commission’s decision to recommend the European Council to grant Georgia the membership candidate status, by saying “this victory also belongs to them”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said the European Union and NATO member countries had not requested from Georgia to impose sanctions on Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, in comments that alleged “attempts to create a false dilemma” around the subject by some members of the European Parliament and domestic non-governmental organisations.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Wednesday said the calls by the Council of the European Union to Georgian political actors to ensure “constructive cooperation” for the country’s European integration “primarily refers to the destructive wing” of domestic opposition.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday slammed “politically biased” and “speculative” assessments by the “elite” domestic non-governmental sector, which he claimed were subsequently “inserted” into reports of foreign organisations with political aims.