Citizens opposition party MP to be nominated for Public Defender
Elisashvili said Ioseliani had the “skills, knowledge and ability to get 90 votes and more [in the election process for the position]”, adding the nominee was a “person who can build a consensus”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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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.
Party MP Aleko Elisashvili said the election of the Public Defender “by consensus” between the ruling party and the opposition was “important”, pointing out the task was also a part of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Our party has made a very difficult decision for me, but I am deeply convinced that it is the correct one for the country. Even in this Parliament, there are only a few people - or maybe only one - around whom consensus is possible”, he said in comments on the decision.
Elisashvili said Ioseliani had the “skills, knowledge and ability to get 90 votes and more [in the election process for the position]”, adding the nominee was a “person who can build a consensus”.
The position of the Public Defender has become vacant after the term of Nino Lomjaria expired in December.
Selection of an “unbiased” Public Defender to replace her is one of the 12 conditions outlined by the EU for granting Georgia the membership candidate status.
The approval 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.
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.
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.
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”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday, announced that the party would not be presenting a candidate for the position of Public Defender, and the nomination of a candidate would be “completely entrusted” to the opposition and civil sector.
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.
Levan Ioseliani, the Public Defender of Georgia and Tamar Gvaramadze, the Deputy Public Defender, on Thursday featured in a meeting organised by the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions to enhance promotion and protection of human rights.
Levan Ioseliani, the Public Defender of Georgia, on Thursday met with Oleksandr Korniyenko, the Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, in Kyiv, with discussions centred around fostering cooperation between the two nations in safeguarding human rights and addressing shared challenges.