Parliament Speaker Says Ex-PM Was against Tightening Labor Law
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, July 18
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze says that the former Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who stepped down in June 2013 after the internal disagreement within the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, was against tightening labor safety law.
According to the chairman of the parliament, during the constitutional amendments, the aim of the special Constitutional Commission was to maximally tighten the labor safety article of the Constitution, but the leadership held a “very strict” position.
Kobakhidze made the statement when commenting on the recent tragedy in Mindeli Mine, Tkibuli, west Georgia, which killed 4 and severely injured 6.
“During the constitutional amendments we did the government a favor, which I think was a wrong compromise. Measures are needed for maximum safety standards in our country,” he said.
The Speaker also noted that Georgia has undertaken concrete obligations under the Association Agreement with the European Union.
“The main thing is that these obligations were fulfilled and everything was done to avoid such tragic cases in the future,” he added.
Speaking to journalists Irakli Kobakhidze said that the liberal approach should end and protection of the human rights should be the main aim.
One of the meetings of the Constitutional Commission, which was held in Tbilisi on May 15, 2017, was attended by the student movement "Auditorium 115".
The meeting failed as a group of students was demanding tightening of labor safety law, adding it was not able to protect the employees’ rights.
Kobakhidze called these students “communists” and called on them to “get education.”
The students brought helmets to the meeting and were expressing solidarity to workers, who died at workplaces.
