Ruling party says it won’t rejoin EU-mediated agreement
The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew from the EU-mediated agreement at the end of July. Photo: GD press office.
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The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MPs say that the party has no plans to rejoin the EU-mediated agreement it left on July 28.
Georgian Dream MP Archil Talakvadze said earlier today that ‘the ruling party was the only party which was fulfilling the agreement’ which had resolved a six-month political crisis following disputed parliamentary elections at the end of 2020 and proposed large-scale reforms.
Other ruling party MPs say that by withdrawing from the EU-mediated agreement the country had returned to its ‘constitutional framework.’
The party says that now they may or may not fulfill a stipulation of the EU-mediated agreement which obliges the GD to accept the holding of repeat parliamentary elections if they receive less than 43 per cent of votes in the October 2 municipal elections.
Meanwhile President Salome Zurabishvili is holding meetings with the ruling party and the opposition on the future on the EU-mediated agreement, following her recent meeting with the European Council President Charles Michel who proposed the agreement back in April 2021.
Held an informal meeting with @CharlesMichel on the current political developments in Georgia. pic.twitter.com/KIpYBtaEap
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) July 29, 2021
Zurabishvili has already met with the head of the ruling party Irakli Kobakhidze and is now meeting with opposition leaders.
Kobakhidze left the presidential palace earlier today without making any comment.
Later he said that 'we will neither rejoin the agreement, nor sign the similar agreement no matter what kind of artificial crisis will be created by the opposition.'
The Lelo opposition party says that the opposition has no plans to leave the agreement and that the ‘ruling party will also have to fulfill the agreement, because the EU and the US are the guarantors of the agreement and otherwise the GD will face sanctions.’
The GD has pulled out of the Michel Agreement. They've betrayed our Western partners, the Georgian people, peace ans stability. I invite the opposition to hold consultations on the way forward, that could include boycotting the local elections. pic.twitter.com/HCOx90B9UO
— Mamuka Khazaradze (@M_Khazaradze) July 28, 2021
The leader of Strategy Agmashenebeli Giorgi Vashadze has not arrived in the presidential palace so far because ‘I am waiting for the president’s critical statement of the GD’s decision to withdraw from the agreement first.’
The GD and five other opposition parties which won seats in the 2020 parliamentary elections signed the agreement in April.
100 days after signing the April 19 Agreement, majority of Georgian opposition MPs and parties refused to sign it, declined to work to fulfill it, and voted against it.
— Georgian Dream (@GeorgianDream41) July 28, 2021
Therefore, Georgian Dream declares the Agreement void, but continues to adhere to its provisions in principle. pic.twitter.com/pEHuLN3T6r
The United National Movement opposition party, which won the most opposition seats - 34 of 60 - in the 150-member parliament, refused to join the agreement.
The GD said that it left the agreement because the ‘main opposition party refused to join the agreement and other opposition parties did not act in line with the agreement.’
The ruling Georgian Dream party has annulled its signatory status to the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which resolved a six-month political crisis in the country following the 2020 parliamentary elections and proposed large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze stated earlier today that the agreement initiated by the European Council President Charles Michel ‘had completed its mission’ and accused opposition parties of non-fulfilment of the agreement.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said earlier today that the implementation of reforms will continue despite the ruling Georgian Dream party’s withdrawal from the EU-mediated agreement which ended the six-month political crisis caused by the parliamentary elections of 2020. The April 19 agreement obliged all signatory parties to participate in the process of fundamental electoral and judicial reforms’ implementation.
Opposition MP Tamar Kordzaia has boycotted the parliamentary activities after the ruling Georgian Dream party’s withdrawal from the EU-mediated agreement. Kordzaia told IPN that she signed the agreement because ‘the western course is important,’ noting that parliamentary cooperation with the Georgian Dream is impossible.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that ‘no elections will take place until the one scheduled in 2024.’
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan stated earlier today that she hopes the EU-mediated agreement will remain in force despite the ruling Georgian Dream party’s recent withdrawal from it. Georgian Dream annulled its signatory status to the April 19 agreement which resolved the political crisis in Georgia caused by parliamentary elections of 2020 and proposed fundamental electoral and judicial reforms.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) says that if the Georgian parliament approves ‘simplified procedures’ for the election of the head of the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) and its members it will be ‘another deviation’ from the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement.