On 2 February, the Georgian parliament voted against the motion to suspend the 51 mandates of the opposition parliamentarians.
The Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobahidze stated that with this move, the ruling team is giving the opposition “yet another chance” to get involved in the democratic process and fulfil the requirements of their electorate. He also emphasised that 20 other opposition parliamentarians also wish to take up their mandates but added that they are afraid “due to bullying and blackmail” by other opposition members.
Roman Gotsiridze from the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party stated that the ruling party was “afraid of the reactions of international partners” and that is why they refused to vote for suspending the status of opposition MPs. However, he said that the political crisis will not be solved if the ruling party will not accept the conduct of repeat parliamentary elections.
The leader of Strategy Agmashenebeli opposition party Giorgi Vashadze said that his party does not plan to bargain with MP mandates but is ready for a dialogue. “The Georgian Dream realised that dialogue and agreement have huge importance for the country. Therefore, it needs to come up with clear proposals to reach an agreement with the opposition. If the ruling party has alternative proposals about early elections or a plebiscite, we are ready to hear them,” he stated.
Opposition Girchi-More Freedom party leader Zurab Japaridze said that he would protest the decision, describing the move from the GD as “stupid” and claiming that his party would attempt to make the ruling party initiate the termination of the opposition’s mandates. According to Japaridze, the GD prefers to cover up the problems by refocusing on other issues. He said that the opposition does not trust the ruling party even if it pledges to satisfy the opposition’s four demands.
A day prior to the voting, Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili called on the opposition to think carefully, and the Georgian Dream to refrain from making a hasty decision regarding the termination of mandates. “Recently, Georgia has moved to a full parliamentary system, and with the recent elections, people elected a multi-party parliament, which is a new level of democracy. Today, the country needs to fully implement this system! Time is running out! The crisis caused by the pandemic requires an efficient, fast-acting parliament and a reasonable approach from everyone! Political controversy cannot meet these difficult challenges! It is time for unity and solidarity inside the country, as well as at the international level!” she stated.
The EU ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell also urged the Georgian politicians not to close doors for negotiations. “While the political dialogue looks unlikely to produce a broad-based agreement in the short-term, I would continue to encourage all sides to refrain from closing any doors prematurely in this process. Especially doors that, once closed, will remain shut forever. In the end, I’m convinced that the interests of Georgia are best served by a parliament that represents the Georgian voters. All political parties should continue working to bridge their differences with that objective in mind,” he stated. The leader of the opposition Citizen’s party, who recently announced that they would enter the parliament, Aleko Elisashvili also called for a dialogue.
