Ruling party Chairman: “everybody should be involved” in Georgia obtaining EU membership candidate status
At a party briefing on Friday, Kobakhidze pointed out the importance of reducing the “radical confrontation” between political forces in the country and declaring a “moratorium on aggressive rhetoric”.Photo: Kobakhidze's Facebook Page.
Tweet 
Share
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said “everybody” from the domestic opposition should be involved in the process related to obtaining the European Union membership candidate status for Georgia.
Kobakhidze said his offer was “not the first time” of the ruling party “extending hand of cooperation” to the opposition “for cooperation within a healthy political process”, and added Georgian Dream would “continue to act with this responsibility”.
He also emphasised “specific formats” with “specific deadlines” were being offered to the opposition by the party as part of the proposal.
At a party briefing on Friday, Kobakhidze pointed out the importance of reducing the “radical confrontation” between political forces in the country and declaring a “moratorium on aggressive rhetoric”.
The ruling Georgian Dream party will offer the parliamentary opposition an “inclusive procedure” for selection of candidates for the position of the Georgian Public Defender before September 1, party Head Irakli Kobakhidze said on Friday.
The ruling Georgian Dream party will set up a group tasked with monitoring political polarisation in the country, following the inclusion of the challenge of overcoming division on the domestic political field in the conditions outlined by the European Council for granting the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said it was “difficult to say" how long it would take for Georgia to receive the European Union membership candidate status, emphasising fulfilment of the conditions outlined by the EU for the outcome.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the European Union had "no reason to reject" Georgia's application for membership, "especially" if it granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said that a working group would be created with the Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee to work on a bill intended to address the European Council’s requirement for the country to curb “excessive influence of vested interests in economic, political, and public life”.
The ruling Georgian Dream party will publish its judicial reform strategy and action plan by October 1, with relevant legislative amendments to be submitted to the Parliament by November 1, party Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said on Friday.
The decision of the Georgian opposition to boycott the working groups proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party in order to fulfil the European Union membership status conditions is a mistake, Petr Mikyska, the Ambassador of Czechia to Georgia, said on Tuesday in an interview with local media outlet Interpressnews.
The involvement of non-governmental organisations is “extensive”, as at least two NGOs - about 200 NGOs in whole - are represented in every Parliamentary working group, created to review judicial reforms for fulfilling the conditions outlined by the European Union for granting Georgia the membership candidate status, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told reporters on Sunday.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on Monday published its opinion on the amendments in the Georgian Law on Common Courts, adopted in June and September in efforts to meet conditions for receiving the European Union membership candidate status, noting while it welcomed the changes, its “important previous recommendations” had not been addressed and urged the domestic authorities to “pursue the reform strategy without unjustified delay”.