Georgia: Parliamentary opposition starts to develop draft laws to implement the EU’s recommendations

Georgia: The parliamentary opposition is starting to develop draft laws to implement the recommendations of the European Union – the meeting of the official group is now underway. They discussed the elimination of corruption and the reform in the judicial system. 

The ruling party does not participate in the meeting, and without the support of the ruling team, none of the draft laws can become law. 

However, for example, Giorgi Vashadze hopes that the Georgian Dream will be forced to support the laws. 

“There were many cases when the ruling party was forced to adopt a law that it did not want to adopt. They voted for the constitution in the first reading and voted for it. They did not want to switch to a fully proportional low-barrier system, but they had to. Therefore, we must create mechanisms that force us to fulfill all 12 points to get candidate status,”. – says the leader of Strategy Builder.

According to Giorgi Botkoveli, a member of the Nationalist Party of Ukraine, all opposition parties that come up with any initiative will work in a coordinated manner. 

“Any group that will meet today in the opposition format will not meet under the leadership of anyone. It will be a coordinated group that will work on what the opposition will do additionally and jointly in order for us to move forward in the process that our country needs most today .” – he said. 

The non-governmental sector also participates in the process. 

The Association of Young Lawyers of Georgia says that they will share their vision regarding the constitutional, judicial or anti-corruption direction with any political group. 

Georgian Dream is working separately to fulfil the recommendations of the European Union. They have already held a meeting regarding the judicial system, however, without inviting non-governmental organizations and the ombudsman. 

Also, on July 18, Georgian Dream refused to schedule an extraordinary session, which was requested by the opposition and invited by the president. 

On June 23, 2022, the European Council granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova but not to Georgia. The council said it is ready to grant the country candidate status once a number of issues are resolved. 

To correct the situation, the European Union gave Georgia a 12-point plan.