Press Scanner
Compiled by Londa Mindiashvili
Tuesday, August 4
By-election of Parliament of Georgia is demanded to be held in Spring
Kviris Palitra writes that the Christian Democrats have asked the ruling party to delay the impending Parliamentary by-elections and hold them in conjunction with the local elections in spring.
Vice Speaker of Parliament and member of the Christian Democratic Movement Levan Vephkhvadze has stated that the planned by-elections are due to be held under the old election code and election administration. The public mistrust in these has been expressed many times. Hold the by-election under the existing code would rule out the chance of competition. A special group for improving the election code has already been created and the main goal of that group must be not only creating a new election administration and correcting the electoral code but also selecting a new, impartial Chairman of the Central Election Commission.
The by-elections are scheduled for September 27, 2009 and the local elections for May 2010.
Saakashvili, Merabishvili, Bezhuashvili and Gilauri lobby for Armenian interests in Georgia – Goga Khaindrava
Versia reports a statement by Goga Khaindrava, a member of the ‘radical’ opposition: “Whether Truso Gorge, Bakuriani and Borjomi are part of Georgia is now in question, and we have problems in Javakheti.
“ Saakashvili, Merabishvili, Bezhuashvili and Gilauri lobby for Armenian interests in Georgia. I also have arguments as to why they signed the project for building a new highway from Akhalkalaki to the Black Sea. They lobbied for Armenia’s and Russia’s interest and not Georgia’s during the negotiations about this project. It will create a straight road to the Giumri military base and we will not be able to control the movement to and fro.
“As for my ambitions, I have decided to move away from politics. What I am doing today is not political activity. Gachechiladze, our friends and I are fighting to rescue our country. Gachechiladze won the Presidential elections over Saakashvili. What does he want to be the Mayor of Tbilisi for? In Saakashvili’s Georgia he is everybody and everything.
“Whether a protest action will be held on 7 August or not depends on the National Forum. Our participation in such a rally has not yet been decided,” added Khaindrava.
The opposition do not plan to enter Parliament
Akhali Taoba reports that members of the ruling party have also called on their opposition colleagues who rejected their Parliamentary mandates to agree with the President’s proposal and reclaim their seats in Parliament. The opposition has made several statements about this, but the Government has not considered their rejection as final and some members of it have held secret negotiations with opposition activists, although it seems they have not persuaded them to change their position.
In order to convince the Government that they do not intend to enter Parliament the opposition have published a special statement: “We confirm that the Parliamentary election in 2008 was falsified. Accordingly the present Parliament is illegitimate; it does not express the Georgian people’s will. So we state once again that we do not plan to enter this Parliament. We want to say that none of us is making any private arrangement with the Government. At the same time we are ready to begin negotiations about the opposition’s 6 point plan,” the statement says.
Kviris Palitra writes that the Christian Democrats have asked the ruling party to delay the impending Parliamentary by-elections and hold them in conjunction with the local elections in spring.
Vice Speaker of Parliament and member of the Christian Democratic Movement Levan Vephkhvadze has stated that the planned by-elections are due to be held under the old election code and election administration. The public mistrust in these has been expressed many times. Hold the by-election under the existing code would rule out the chance of competition. A special group for improving the election code has already been created and the main goal of that group must be not only creating a new election administration and correcting the electoral code but also selecting a new, impartial Chairman of the Central Election Commission.
The by-elections are scheduled for September 27, 2009 and the local elections for May 2010.
Saakashvili, Merabishvili, Bezhuashvili and Gilauri lobby for Armenian interests in Georgia – Goga Khaindrava
Versia reports a statement by Goga Khaindrava, a member of the ‘radical’ opposition: “Whether Truso Gorge, Bakuriani and Borjomi are part of Georgia is now in question, and we have problems in Javakheti.
“ Saakashvili, Merabishvili, Bezhuashvili and Gilauri lobby for Armenian interests in Georgia. I also have arguments as to why they signed the project for building a new highway from Akhalkalaki to the Black Sea. They lobbied for Armenia’s and Russia’s interest and not Georgia’s during the negotiations about this project. It will create a straight road to the Giumri military base and we will not be able to control the movement to and fro.
“As for my ambitions, I have decided to move away from politics. What I am doing today is not political activity. Gachechiladze, our friends and I are fighting to rescue our country. Gachechiladze won the Presidential elections over Saakashvili. What does he want to be the Mayor of Tbilisi for? In Saakashvili’s Georgia he is everybody and everything.
“Whether a protest action will be held on 7 August or not depends on the National Forum. Our participation in such a rally has not yet been decided,” added Khaindrava.
The opposition do not plan to enter Parliament
Akhali Taoba reports that members of the ruling party have also called on their opposition colleagues who rejected their Parliamentary mandates to agree with the President’s proposal and reclaim their seats in Parliament. The opposition has made several statements about this, but the Government has not considered their rejection as final and some members of it have held secret negotiations with opposition activists, although it seems they have not persuaded them to change their position.
In order to convince the Government that they do not intend to enter Parliament the opposition have published a special statement: “We confirm that the Parliamentary election in 2008 was falsified. Accordingly the present Parliament is illegitimate; it does not express the Georgian people’s will. So we state once again that we do not plan to enter this Parliament. We want to say that none of us is making any private arrangement with the Government. At the same time we are ready to begin negotiations about the opposition’s 6 point plan,” the statement says.