After 4 months of refusal UNM signs EU-brokered deal
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, September 3
About 4 months after the signing of the Agreement initiated by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the United National Movement decided to sign it. Representatives of the UNM, signed the agreement at the EU Office on 2nd of September, which was previously signed by some parliamentary opposition forces and the Georgian Dream in April following lengthy mediation efforts by the EU and Charles Michel in particular. The Agreement aimed to overcome the 6-month political standoff in Georgia following the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The UNM refused to sign the document despite ending the parliamentary boycott, pointing at controversial clauses in the document, particularly the one allowing amnesty for all violations and convictions stemming from the 19-21 June 2019 protest, sparked by the presence of Russian legislators in the Georgian parliament.
By the end of July 2021, the Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party left the agreement, explaining that the main purpose of the agreement was to reduce polarization and radicalization, which failed. The Georgian Dream also cited the fact that the main opposition party, the National Movement, did not join the agreement. Following the withdrawal from the deal, the leaders of the ruling party have repeatedly said that the parliamentary elections will be held in 2024 on time.
The UNM’s decision comes after PM Gharibashvili’s announcement of August 31 that stated that Georgia is refusing to receive EU macroeconomic financial assistance because the country has begun to reduce its foreign debt and is no longer planning to take out new loans. The EU, on its behalf, is considering the decision of the Georgian government to refuse macro-financial assistance, which means that Georgia can no longer receive 75 million euros. Recall that the EU has repeatedly warned about withholding the aid should the GD fail the court reform condition foreseen by the April 19 EU-brokered deal.
“The GD’s refusal of the EU assistance was an open statement about the change of the foreign policy course and abandonment of the European way by the ruling party,” the party chairman and Tbilisi mayoral candidate Nika Melia said, explaining what has led the opposition party to take this step, despite certain ‘unacceptable’ provisions in the document. Now the UNM says that they stand above the stipulation’ because the country’s European course is at a serious risk under GD leadership. According to the party leader, the UNM joins the agreement so that ‘western partners do not distance themselves from Georgian people due to the unreliable government.’
As Melia said, with the signature the party expresses readiness and emphasizes the belief that they will win along with other pro-Western opposition forces in the October 2 Local self-government elections, that UNM prefers to refer to as a referendum. This perception is based on the Michelle Agreement reservation that calls for early parliamentary elections in 2022 if the Georgian Dream receives less than 43% of the vote.
The GD has called the UNM’s decision ‘funny and not serious’ recalling that UNM was late to enter the parliament and was also late to sign the EU-mediated agreement. According to them, UNM’s signature on the document ‘makes no sense as the agreement does not exist.’ Ruling party also emphasizes that it is the GD which ‘has made the country’s Euro-Atlantic course irreversible.’
EU Ambassador Carl Hartzel does not consider it too late for the UNM to sign the agreement.
“In my opinion, it is never too late to sign what is first and foremost an important guide to democratic reform, and perhaps it is not too late to return to that guide,” Hartzel announced. Hestrongly believes that these reforms will benefit all citizens of Georgia:
“We remain committed to working with all those who are committed to these reforms.” Hartzel notes that 147 out of 150 elected members of parliament supported the agreement and its content at different stages and at different times.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, who was also one of the mediators of the Agreement, has welcomed the largest opposition party’s decision and stated that ‘it is a good sign for strengthening Georgia’s path forward.’
“We have been encouraging the UNM to sign the agreement for quite some time, so it is a good sign because this represents a roadmap of the important reforms that the country is to make,” Degnan stated, adding that These reforms are going to allow for a stronger economy, for a better electoral process, ‘these are the reforms that touch the lives of every Georgian and so it is a very good sign that UNM has decided to sign on’.
Cornell Kakachia, director of the Georgian Policy Institute, said that the signing of the April 19 agreement by the UNM was too late and did not indicate the party's strategic vision.
“It is just more aimed at the international community and its partisan interests, and unfortunately in this case it will not help to create a consensus-oriented democratic model in Georgia,” Cornell Kakachia commented.
