On Sunday, the European Union (EU) announced a new proposal, titled ‘A way ahead for Georgia’, aimed at ending the political tensions that have gripped Georgia since last year’s election. The initiative, published by European Council President Charles Michel, seeks to “advance Georgia’s democratic and rule of law agenda through political, judicial and anti-corruption reforms.”
The plan focuses on five different aspects relating to the country’s political impasse: politicised justice, electoral reform, judicial reform, power-sharing in parliament, and future elections. Most importantly, it states that “early parliamentary elections shall be called in 2022 if the Georgian Dream party receives less than 43% of valid proportional votes in the October 2021 local self-government elections.” This has been a long-standing demand of opposition parties, which claim that the October 2020 elections were rigged in favour of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Massive protests broke out in Georgia last year following the declaration of the 2020 election results, with Georgian Dream receiving almost 50% of the vote. Opposition parties, led by the United National Movement (UNM), immediately rejected the results, claiming that the vote was fraudulent and called for fresh elections to be conducted.
However, Georgian Dream has rejected these claims and at the same time, has led a crackdown against opposition leaders, including Nika Melia, the chairman of UNM. Melia, also a member of the Georgian parliament, was arrested in February this year as security forces raided UNM’s office headquarters in Tbilisi. He has since been charged with organising “mass violence” aimed at destabilising the country. Last week, a Georgian court refused to grant bail to Melia over his denial to accept the election results. The release of Melia has been at the top of the EU’s agenda in its talks with the Georgian government, which have failed to produce any significant compromise so far.
The EU sees the new proposal as a way to revive the stalled talks and end the stalemate in the country. A joint statement released by the bloc’s delegation to Georgia and the US embassy reiterated the “necessity for all parties to compromise with each other.” While the ruling party members have expressed interest in signing the EU-sponsored deal and have also called on opposition parties to “put the country’s interests above all” and sign the document, the opposition has rejected any cooperation with Georgian Dream until Melia is released.
The proposal was also endorsed by the United States (US), which urged all Georgian lawmakers to sign the agreement. The US Department of State released a statement saying that the reforms presented in the document would result in greater benefits for the country’s citizens and bring in stronger institutions that can “better reflect the voices of all people of Georgia.”
EU Announces Proposal to End Georgian Political Crisis
The initiative seeks to advance Georgia’s democratic and rule of law agenda through political, judicial and anti-corruption reforms.
April 19, 2021
SOURCE: VANO SHLAMOV/AFP