Youth wing of ruling party announces large gathering to mark Georgia’s chairmanship of CoE
The ruling party has not yet named the location in Tbilisi where the gathering will take place. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
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The youth wing of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has announced a large gathering of its young activists “and everyone interested” from Tbilisi and the regions on December 14 to mark Georgia’s chairmanship of CoE.
The gathering in Tbilisi will conclude a festive week dedicated to the historic event [of the chairmanship of CoE],” the party says.
All the expenses for the day will be covered by the organisers.
Every citizen of the country, who believes that Georgia’s chairmanship of CoE is important and supports the ruling party and the country’s European course, can join us. We will be happy if every citizen of the country joins us, not only the youth,” Giorgi Chakvetadze, the head of the youth wing of the ruling party said.
He urged politically active groups to refrain from staging provocations during the event.
The gathering is scheduled to take place amid public protests in the country, sparked by the rejection of the ruling party proposed election bill on November 14.
Georgia will take over the chairmanship of Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Ministers for a six-month term from November 2019 to May 2020. The chairmanship will be passed from France to Georgia at a meeting in mid-November 2019 at the CoE’s Strasbourg headquarters, attended by representatives of its 47 member states.
The EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that the Georgian Dream ruling party and the opposition coming to a consensus soon regarding the electoral system for the 2020 parliamentary elections is unrealistic.
The Head of the Council of Europe (CoE) Office in Georgia Christian Urse says that diplomatic corps are now focused on the dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition for the 2020 elections in Georgia as the Georgian constitution allows the transition to a fully proportional electoral system from 2024 and the problems related to election systems will be removed automatically.
Starting today until May 15, 2020 Georgia will chair the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), a decision making body composed of the ministers of foreign affairs of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe or their permanent representatives in Strasbourg.Georgia has taken over the chairmanship from France.
Georgia has made a voluntary contribution of €500,000 towards Council of Europe (CoE) projects as the new char of the organisation, the Council of Europe reports.CoE says the funds will support the priorities of the Georgian chairmanship: human rights and environmental protection; citizen participation in decision-making; child-friendly justice - converging experience on restorative justice in Europe, strengthening democracy through education, culture and youth engagement.
Georgian opposition says that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Russian delegation must not be allowed into Georgia during the Council of Europe (CoE) ministerial in Tbilisi in May 2020, which Georgia will host as the CoE chair country.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Gregori Karasin says that a Russian delegation will attend the CoE ministerial in Tbilisi in May 2020, which Georgia will be hosting as the Council of Europe chair.