Girchi calls for Parliament to refuse suspension of 51 opposition seats

On February 1, three MPs of the opposition Girchi party – Iago Khvichia, Aleksandre Rakviashvili, and Vakhtang Megreishvili announced that in case the Georgian Parliament satisfies the request of 51 opposition MPs and suspends their seats tomorrow, they will too suspend their own seats. The Girchi MPs also addressed the ruling Georgian Dream party to not support the decision of the opposition MPs to suspend their seats.

Khvichia, Rakviashvili, and Megreishvili added that the negotiations were carried out with the help of the country’s dip corps, and neither the ruling party nor the opposition has publically expressed that desire to quit the negotiations. Thus, none of the sides can be blamed for jeopardizing negotiations, however, Georgian Dream as a ruling party is responsible for the conduct of the controversial October 2020 elections, which is why it is also responsible for deescalating the ongoing political parties.

“We believe that the suspension of the seats of our colleagues will both undermine the negotiations, worsen the crisis, and will, possibly, make the crisis irreversible. Thus, we call upon our colleagues from the Georgian Dream party to show that they are ready to cooperate and work together. Do not support the suspension of the mandates. Postpone this decision and give some more time for the members of the Parliament and their voters to realize the importance of reaching an agreement and the risks associated with the failure to do so.

“If despite our request, the Parliament votes in favor of the suspension of the mandates, we will treat it as a conscious decision of the ruling Georgian Dream party to quit the negotiations with the opposition bloc, and all of the MPs of the Girchi party will also suspend their respective seats,” the party has announced.

MPs of the 6 opposition parties have already requested the suspension of their seats in the Parliament in defiance of the results of the Parliamentary Elections that took place last year. As of right now, only 4 out of 60 opposition MPs have entered the Parliament.

Girchi won four seats in the 10th convocation of the Georgian Parliament. One of the co-founders of the party, Zurab Japaridze quit Girchi shortly after the election results were announced and created a Girchi party of his own. On February 2, the Parliament will hold a vote on whether or not to satisfy the request for the suspension of mandates submitted by the opposition parties last year.