Page 7 - GEORptApr21

2.0 Politics
2.1 Georgia opposition, ruling parties reject agreement
proposed by EU
The ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition parties in Georgia have failed to agree with a solution to the country’s political crisis as proposed by Christian Danielsson, EU Council President Charles Michel’s personal envoy.
Danielsson is now expected to update Michel about the lack of a way forward in the coming days. It remains unclear whether the EU mediation efforts will continue.
“This is a solution that requires political courage and responsibility,” stated the EU diplomat, recommending the adoption of the proposal.
After eight hours of negotiations, late on March 30, Danielsson announced that he was “sad to report that none of the political parties could agree to this solution in whole”.
The agreement proposed by Danielsson includes an amnesty for actions related to the incidents of June 20, 2019—such an amnesty would trigger the freedom of so-called “political prisoners” including United National Movement (UNM) opposition leader Nika Melia—and the end of the opposition parties’ boycotting of parliament, where they would be given positions including control over several key committees. The provisions did not imply the release of Giorgi Rurua, the pro-opposition Mtavari Arkhi TV shareholder, whom the opposition also regard as a political prisoner.
The proposal from Danielsson also concentrates on a set of reforms to the electoral and justice laws that would aim to set in place a genuine democratic system that would avoid deadlocks such as that currently facing Georgia.
No specific deadline for the date of a new general election under the revised electoral system is specified by the proposal, however.
The opposition’s key demand for a snap election – fiercely rejected by the Georgian Dream government – was thus not reflected in the document put forward.
According to Danielsson’s text, all future parliamentary elections should be fully based on proportional voting.
Clear criteria for recounting ballots would be defined, the text said, adding that the automatic 10% recounting per precinct on a random basis would remain. The document added that parliament should adopt “ambitious judicial reform” in this parliamentary term.
It also stated that all ongoing Supreme Court appointments should be paused and the application process should be reopened; substantive reform of the High Council of Justice would take place; as regards the Prosecutor General, the parties would commit to pursuing a shared political position with a vote of a qualified majority of MPs, ensuring the broadest, cross-party political support.
The text added that the parties take note of the assessment by the OSCE
7 GEORGIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com