The News in Brief
Wednesday, June 26
Former Parliament Speaker blames the opposition and ruling party for tourist exodus
Former Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia and the Chairperson of the country’s opposition party, United Georgia Nino Burjanadze stated that the ruling party and forces controlled by former President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili are to blame for Georgia’s financial losses due to the mass withdrawal of Russian tourists.
“Unfortunately, because our authorities are shortsighted, it will now be extremely difficult to quickly restore Russia-Georgia relations even to the level that they were a week ago. It will require a lot of very serious effort in this direction since the recent events have set us back,” Burjanadze said to the Russian newspaper.
Series of cancellation on Airbnb, online marketplace and hospitality service brokerage company, was followed after the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin issued a decree suspending all direct flights between Russia and Georgia, telling Russians to leave Georgia by July 8.
PACE co-rapporteurs on election system changes
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC) and Claude Kern (France, ALDE), have made the following statement regarding an offer by the ruling majority in Georgia about the voting system.
“The introduction of a fully proportional election system before the next legislative elections take place has been a long-standing recommendation of the Assembly, so we strongly support this initiative,” they said.
They also noted that the whole process would require cooperation and a series of changes.
“We call upon all stakeholders to give their full support to the change of the electoral system. We have seen that the introduction of a fully proportional system has often fallen victim to the lack of genuine cooperation between the ruling majority and opposition. We sincerely hope that history will not repeat itself in this case,” they noted.
The co-rapporteurs are planning to visit Georgia in September.
(By Mariam Chanishvili)
Two Korean tourists die in Tbilisi
Two Korean tourists died in Tbilisi after an incident in central Tbilisi on June 24.
The metal construction of a table and chairs, at the Metekhi Bridge in Tbilisi, collapsed due to the strong winds and heavy rain on Monday, throwing three Korean tourists down to the Mtkvari River.
The place is near the Metekhi Church, which is one of the most visited sites in the city.
One of the male tourists died at the scene, while two, a man and a woman, were transported to Ingorokva hospital.
The woman died on Tuesday.
Doctors say that her health condition was critical, and there were low chances for her to survive.
“We have taken all measures to help her. However, she suffered from multiple severe injuries,” doctors said.
The only survivor remains in the hospital.
The investigation is working on the case.
Metekhi is a historic neighborhood of the Georgian capital located on the elevated cliff that overlooks the Mtkvari River.
(By Gvantsa Gabekhadze)
Former Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia and the Chairperson of the country’s opposition party, United Georgia Nino Burjanadze stated that the ruling party and forces controlled by former President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili are to blame for Georgia’s financial losses due to the mass withdrawal of Russian tourists.
“Unfortunately, because our authorities are shortsighted, it will now be extremely difficult to quickly restore Russia-Georgia relations even to the level that they were a week ago. It will require a lot of very serious effort in this direction since the recent events have set us back,” Burjanadze said to the Russian newspaper.
Series of cancellation on Airbnb, online marketplace and hospitality service brokerage company, was followed after the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin issued a decree suspending all direct flights between Russia and Georgia, telling Russians to leave Georgia by July 8.
PACE co-rapporteurs on election system changes
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC) and Claude Kern (France, ALDE), have made the following statement regarding an offer by the ruling majority in Georgia about the voting system.
“The introduction of a fully proportional election system before the next legislative elections take place has been a long-standing recommendation of the Assembly, so we strongly support this initiative,” they said.
They also noted that the whole process would require cooperation and a series of changes.
“We call upon all stakeholders to give their full support to the change of the electoral system. We have seen that the introduction of a fully proportional system has often fallen victim to the lack of genuine cooperation between the ruling majority and opposition. We sincerely hope that history will not repeat itself in this case,” they noted.
The co-rapporteurs are planning to visit Georgia in September.
(By Mariam Chanishvili)
Two Korean tourists die in Tbilisi
Two Korean tourists died in Tbilisi after an incident in central Tbilisi on June 24.
The metal construction of a table and chairs, at the Metekhi Bridge in Tbilisi, collapsed due to the strong winds and heavy rain on Monday, throwing three Korean tourists down to the Mtkvari River.
The place is near the Metekhi Church, which is one of the most visited sites in the city.
One of the male tourists died at the scene, while two, a man and a woman, were transported to Ingorokva hospital.
The woman died on Tuesday.
Doctors say that her health condition was critical, and there were low chances for her to survive.
“We have taken all measures to help her. However, she suffered from multiple severe injuries,” doctors said.
The only survivor remains in the hospital.
The investigation is working on the case.
Metekhi is a historic neighborhood of the Georgian capital located on the elevated cliff that overlooks the Mtkvari River.
(By Gvantsa Gabekhadze)