Leaders of ruling party meet with opposition representatives to discuss possible changes in constitution
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, December 2
Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party met with the representatives of the opposition, discussing possible changes in the electoral system and views of the opposition. During the meeting, the opposition presented their so-called German model of the elections and called on the ruling party to negotiate. The meeting was attended by international representatives.
United National Movement leader Grigol Vashadze said after the meeting initiated by the diplomatic corps that the gathering ended with ‘no results.’ According to him, the representatives of the Georgian Dream had no suggestions and ideas, and they categorically rejected the compromise proposal that was prepared by the opposition and signed by 30 parties.
Giga Bokeria, one of the leaders of European Georgia, said after the meeting that the protest will continue. Bokeria says they are in favor of continuing the dialogue and will also be protesting in the street.
Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Archil Talakvadze, said that the meeting once again showed that the so-called German model is not in line with the Constitution of Georgia. He also added that it is possible that political consultations will be held in the future as well.
"The first meeting was held, which reaffirmed what we have said many times. This meeting has once again shown that the so-called German model is not in line with the Constitution of Georgia, therefore it is impossible to implement it” the Speaker of Parliament noted.
According to Talakvadze, what the ruling party plans to do is to prepare for the 2020 elections. “We call on the opposition to return to the normal process, we will, of course, be ready to have any discussions with them,” added Talakvadze.
No representatives of the movement ‘It’s a Shame’ was present during the meeting. As a member of ‘It’s a Shame’ said, not letting the civil sector take part in negotiations ‘raises some doubts’.
However, former Speaker of the Parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze believes that the representatives of the movement attended the meeting since they are ‘the same political force as the European Georgia and UNM.’
“The representatives of the activists were Vashadze and Bokeria, they represented ‘It’s a Shame’ and ‘Dare’. They talked about their views,” noted Kobakhidze.
H.E. Carl Hartzell, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, noted that it was a very worthy discussion involving different parties.
“It was not my expectation that we would make the final conclusions during this meeting. In this case, I would not be a realist. My expectation was that the parties would understand each other more about the key requirements and hopefully this meeting would open the door for the future,” noted the Ambassador.
US Charge d'Affaires to Georgia Elizabeth Rood that the dialogue between the opposition and the authorities will have results and that a solution to the crisis will be found.
“We talked about different solutions, but most importantly, we agreed that the discussion would continue. The opposition and the ruling party have agreed that talks should take place again and that the United States and other international partners are ready to assist in this process,” noted the US Charge d'Affaires.
The meeting between the authorities and the opposition took place at the Biltmore Hotel from 10 am to 5 pm and, as opposition officials said, it ended without any results.
About 30 parties in the opposition coalition signed a memorandum on November 29 confirming their support for the so-called German model.
