Eka Beselia, a former member of Parliament from the ruling Georgian Dream, said problems with the justice system were a big reason she left the ruling party. She said that former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s comments against the government sounded the same as she saw at the time she resigned.
According to her resignation over the matter of such things as judicial independence, appointment of the judges, and the politically interested judicial system in the country. In the past, she published several allegations that judicial appointment is not the decision by the political side, but should be on merit basis.
In December 2018, she quit as chair of Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee for not supporting the bid for life appointment of Supreme Court judges. She said the process was being hurried up, without sufficient media discussion and transparency.
She and the leader of the party over time turned into a political dispute. In February 2019, she officially withdrew from the Georgian Dream, saying that the ruling party was moving further and further away from the principles and values upon which it was founded. Her resignation also reflected the increasing tension within the parliamentary majority over the judiciary.
Independence of the judiciary has remained a highly debated topic in Georgian politics. The role of political parties in the judiciary, the appointment of judges, and the accountability of judicial institutions have all been widely discussed in the media.
Yet, it is odd to mention that the fact that internal division in Georgian Dream has been discussed after many years again is due to the last statement made by Beselia. Her reasons for leaving the party reflect the same issues that Irakli Garibashvili has also raised, suggesting that these problems existed long before his departure. This indicates that internal divisions within the ruling party played a critical role in its eventual split.
Her statement underscores the importance of protecting the independence of the judiciary, should the country wish to maintain the public trust within a democratic setting. The conflicts between the political arena and the court system continue to be the most powerful theme on the entire political scene in Georgia.
