Georgian President offers Political Parties “Georgian Charter”

Georgia: The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, offered political parties the “Georgian Charter.” She said, “What does this initiative of his mean? We offer you the full text of Zurabishvili.”

The Georgian map reflects society’s order and demand; in its essence and spirit, it also serves to take the main existential steps in today’s society. The steps that signatories of this Charter are undertaking also refer to nine points of the European recommendation.

These are the steps:

• Abolition of damaging laws for the country’s European exchange rate. All laws against the European way and European recommendations will be repealed immediately. In particular, the Law on “Foreign Influence Transparency,” i.e., Russian Law. Several amendments to the Election Code, e.g., Law of hearing, Law of offshores, etc.
• Also, politically motivated cases against protesters participating in the 2024 protest will be canceled, and amnesty will be accepted. This will liberate the justice system and restore trust in it—what we’ve all been waiting for so long.
• Dismissal of the court. We will liberate ourselves from clan rule through judges’ consciences and origin checks of undocumented assets. This probe will target all judges whose politically motivated decisions have damaged trust in the judiciary and tarnished its reputation. I guess you don’t need names. The inspection will concern the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Council of Justice, all the members of the Supreme Court, the Chairmen of Appeal, and the Civil Court.
• The inspection will also apply to all new judges, adding new judges to the court, eliminating court overload and breach of hearing deadlines. The system of electronic case distribution in the court will be fully operational to avoid political influences in the division of cases. Judges will not be able to hold administrative positions for a second term.
• Finally, perhaps most important is to strengthen the mandate of the Impeachment Court and expand its authority on cases of high public interest.
• This also includes fundamental reform of the High Council of Justice, stripping it of its excessive powers and, in particular, stripping the right to disciplinary justice, which is a bracket for prosecution. 
• The right to choose chairmen of administrative bodies will be stripped, the Justice School will become independent from the Board, the rule of selection of Supreme Court judges will be changed, the Board will only examine candidates on criteria laid down by the Constitution, and the list will be submitted ideally to the Parliament who will elect them. 
• Members of the Council will be forbidden from holding another administrative position and will have the opportunity to be elected twice. Important decisions will be influenced by non-judicial beards in the Council. Other priority reforms will concern the prosecutor’s office. The Prosecutor General will probably now be elected with a high quorum and only for one term.
• The prosecutor’s Board is getting stronger. To deconstruct the SSS and MIA power, the fundamental reform of the SSS and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be held. Effective parliamentary control will be based on each activity, protecting them from political influences. We will strengthen the exceptional investigation service and grant absolute independence to protect the rights of citizens on facts of violence committed by law enforcement.
• We will separate anti-corruption agencies from the executive government and give them absolute brackets. First, it will be equipped with the powers to investigate corruption cases, which it does not have today. The Parliament of Georgia will elect the head of the agency, and he will be held accountable to the Parliament.

Salome Zurabishvili said, “We will return independence to the National Bank. We are increasing the number of board members and balancing executive and non-executive members. The possibility of unilateral decisions will be excluded, and the unilateral order by the Head of the National Bank, which is against Georgia’s international obligations, will be canceled. Regulators will be freed from political influence, and independent leaders will be appointed by democratic rule.”

She also noted,” Finally, the electoral system will be established to restore health, which is necessary for fair and free elections. The rule of electing CESCO chairman and completing CESCO will be refined, the barrier will be removed, the possibility of building blocks will be restored, and the rule of funding for parties will be revised. And this is very important to me and all of you; I am sure diasporas will be allowed to participate in the elections smoothly.”

“With all this, a new political reality will be created, and finally, we, that is, the signatories of this Charter, who will receive a mandate from the Georgian people on the October 26, 2024 elections, take a commitment and promise that we will fulfill the conditions written in this Charter before the end of the first spring session and as soon as they are implemented, the preliminary elections will be prepared and held free and fair In terms of conditions and environment. We also promise that the President of Georgia will represent the government responsible for implementing this action plan, and I will still be the President,” Zurabishvili commented.