Fridon Injia was approved as the chairman of the party at the founding congress on January 9. From now on, 90 deputies of the Georgian Dream and 4 deputies of the European Socialists will be represented in the 150-member parliament of Georgia of the 10th convocation.
Fridon Injia, Avtandil Enukidze, Gela Mikadze and Davit Zilfimiani The decision to form a new party was announced after they entered parliament amid a general boycott by the opposition.
- Avtandil Enukidze, number four on the party list of the Patriots Alliance, did not resign from the parliamentary mandate from the very beginning;
- The fifth, seventh and eighth numbers on the list – Gela Mikadze, Pridon Injia and Davit Zilfimiani took the seats of the leaders of the “Patriots Alliance” – Irma Inashvili, Giorgi Lomia and Gocha Tevdoradze in the Parliament.
Of the four MPs on the Patriots Alliance list, only Fridon Injia was a member of the party. From now on, these four will be represented in the parliament on behalf of the new party – “European Socialists”. According to the statements made by the Georgian Dream, the parliament is no longer one-party and the opposition has joined its work.
“Does Giga Bokeria like this or are we already the first opposition party in the parliament, the European Socialists?”
By the way, I would like to remind him that such decisions were made by the opposition in the parliament of the previous convocation, when the National Movement separated European Georgia and created a new party. Was that action fair and our unfair? This is his double standard approach to the issue. ” – This statement was made by the chairman of the party “European Socialists”, Fridon Injia, the press service of the parliament, in response to the explanations of one of the leaders of “European Georgia”, Giga Bokeria.
Giga Bokeria, like much of the opposition spectrum, believes that the formation of a new party and the entry of several MPs will not solve the problem of one-party rule in parliament.
“This is a one-party parliament and the entry of these people into the parliament is a confirmation of one-party rule … The parliament is even more one-party now. “Sometimes I emphasize something negative about who you are … The celebration of the representatives of Ivanishvili’s regime is a confirmation of one-party rule and a reminder once again that this parliament does not express the will of the Georgian people.” – Bokeria told journalists.
According to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament:
- The 4 deputies representing the “European Socialists” will not be able to form a separate faction, because at least 7 deputies are needed to form a faction.
- They have several choices – either they must remain as non-factional MPs, or they must join the Georgian Dream as the only faction in parliament so far.
- There is another option of forming a separate faction, if, say, a group of 4 people is filled by at least 7 deputies from the Georgian Dream faction.
On January 4, the Patriots Alliance’s political leaders harshly assessed the expedited nature of their parliamentary seats by parliament. Cancellation Decision. Irma Inashvili claimed that this was an expression of “exemplary punishment” of the party. but Gocha Tevdoradze According to him, the Georgian Dream violated the law when it selectively approached the Patriots Alliance and rejected the late statements made by 51 other opposition MPs.
Irakli Kadagishvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee on procedural issues and rules, told RFE / RL that the case of the Patriots Alliance was special and that a “politically advantageous” step was considered a priority.
“It has already been announced that 3 members of the Patriots’ Alliance were passing by and other members were coming in their place. This decision was made by three passers-by of the Patriots Alliance and three bystanders.
“It was politically advantageous in the sense that three people agreed to enter parliament (on a rotating basis) and, in addition, one MP said he would stay in parliament … as a result, four opposition MPs would appear in parliament.” – Irakli Kadagishvili told Radio Liberty.
Kadagishvili also told us that they hope that others will enter the parliament to reach an agreement with the opposition. Irakli Kadagishvili does not specify which parties or certain politicians are connected with this hope.
The fact is that the “Georgian Dream” is not in a hurry to cancel the mandates of the other opposition MPs until the fifth round of talks. “We try our best not to limit the field for political dialogue” – Irakli Kadagishvili told Radio Liberty.
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