On 26 March, the political parties in Georgia reacted to the statements of the US ambassador Kelly Degnan on the political crisis in the country (Caucasus Watch reported), where she said that there was a lack of courage for a compromise.
The members of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party said that in principle they were ready for compromises, but not at the expense of giving up its mandates. According to Irakli Kadagishvili, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues, a compromise would mean bringing the positions closer and not giving up the mandate set by the people. He believes the government has taken many compromise steps, but he cannot reveal those steps as agreed with the mediators. Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze also stated that the ruling Georgian Dream party is not considering holding repeat parliamentary elections or the release of opposition United National Movement UNM) chair Nika Melia during the upcoming EU-mediated negotiations.
The country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashivili said that the opposition had two choices. “First is to consider strategic partners' calls to enter parliament and end the artificially created crisis, masquerade. Or the second, if they continue following destructive courses and do not distance themselves from (former President’s) Mikhael Saakashvili’s radical policy, they will have to embark on a marginalisation path,” he said. “Regarding the rally announced by the opposition, one to be held two months from now, name just one country where the opposition announces a rally two months ahead. That goes to show that even their own supporters do not attend their announced rallies. It tells us that the opposition is in total confusion. Simply put, they are in horrible, disastrous shape, and I am talking about Saakashvili’s radical wing and their radical behaviour in general,” he added.
Members of the opposition parties in the country reacted differently to Degnan’s statements. The UNM member Levan Bezhashvili said the government should demonstrate the political courage and responsibility to offer the opposition the proposals that will be the basis for a solution. He also commented that the first round of talks failed because the government was unable to submit some debated proposals. Bezashvili’s fellow party colleague Salome Samadashvili said that the UNM is ready to participate in talks without any preconditions as soon as their party Chairman Nika Melia is released. A much more radical stance was presented by the representatives of the Labour party. “The call to enter the parliament and accept the rigged elections, will not work out,” said Giorgi Gugava, a member of the Labour Party. He believes holding new elections and the release of political prisoners is the only way out of the crisis.
The representatives from Strategy Aghmashenebeli and Lelo had more moderate responses to Degnan’s statements. Sergo Chikhladze from Strategy Agmashenebeli said that his party would take part in the negotiations and that both sides should be ready for a mutual compromise. According to him, Georgia’s European and American partners say that the government has more leverage to successfully complete the talks. “The GD did not even submit a proposal on any issue during the last round. It is not only about the early elections and political prisoners, but also about the court and the electoral system. Those pre-agreed issues were taken back by the authorities,” he added.
Grigol Gegelia from the Lelo party stressed that the opposition knows very well that Georgia needs a multi-party, well-functioning parliament, but this cannot happen at the expense of fraud. According to Gegelia, the ambassador’s message regarding the compromising spirit was addressed to the Georgian Dream, because the opposition has this spirit. The party’s leader Badri Japaridze said they have high expectations for the involvement of strategic partners and their increasing pressure on the government. “We and our friends want to be able to continue working in parliament. This requires agreement on key issues. These are issues raised by President Michel and negotiated for several months now. Unfortunately, we could not reach a political agreement due to the stubbornness and non-state attitudes of the GD,” he said.
