PM says Ready to Invite President, But…
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, October 18
Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze stated on Wednesday that he is ready to invite President Giorgi Margvelashvili at the governmental meeting, but the topics which had been offered by the president for discussions might not appear on the agenda of the gathering.
Margvelashvili addressed the PM on Tuesday to hold the governmental meeting with his participation to discuss the issues of audio recordings which have been released lately, as the “people worry about the issues.”
Margvelashvili mentioned the recordings related to the Omega business corporation and the Khorava Street murder case of teenagers, released by the opposition-minded Rustavi 2 TV channel, which speak about the alleged government pressure on business and the government negative involvement in the judiciary.
The Georgian Dream leadership says that all the recordings are staged or edited and accused the opposition of stirring destabilization during the pre-election campaign.
“We are ready for the meeting, but the topics for the government meetings are specifically regulated. The administration of the government of Georgia will release a statement about,” Bakhtadze said.
He also stated that “it is categorically unacceptable” when the president compared human rights situation under the current and the previous state leadership to each other.
“Human rights are the top priority for us and our place on the international surveys confirm this,” Bakhtadze said.
President’s Parliamentary Secretary Ana Natsvlishvili says that she has already sent a relevant letter to the administration of the government of Georgia and is now waiting for the president’s participation in the upcoming government meeting.
Expert Vakhushti Menabde says that the PM has no right to refuse president’s involvement in the meeting when the participation is requested by the president, as the constitution gives the president such a right.
He says that the PM should also include the topics the president wants to be discussed on the agenda of the meeting.
