Cabinet of Chairman of Georgian Parliament Calls on MEPs to Fully Disclose Communication Regarding Jean Monnet Dialogue
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Members of the European Parliament Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Miriam Lexmann, and Marina Kaljurand have issued a statement regarding the cancellation of the Jean Monet Dialogue, a parliamentary format developed by the EP as a tool in the area of parliamentary mediation and dialogue. As EP facilitators state, the visit planned for 21-22 January in Tbilisi was revoked as “Chairman Shalva Papuashvili did not find the time to engage.”
According to the MEPs, the visit was aimed at developing an inter-party dialogue to build a better democratic parliamentary culture and trust, noting that the Jean Monnet Dialogue process is a flexible and proven instrument of mediation, able to accommodate different positions and interests. They expressed “regret that the political conditions necessary for the start of this ambitious process are not fulfilled at this stage.”
The statement reads that the EP remains committed to assisting the Parliament of Georgia in addressing the ‘persisting’ and ‘detrimental’ political polarization in the country and advancing with an inclusive and reformist agenda.
The Cabinet of Chairman of Georgian Parliament has responded to the statement, noting that in order to avoid further misunderstandings, it is desirable for the relevant services of the European Parliament to fully disclose the communication with the Cabinet of the Parliament of Georgia regarding the preparatory visit of the Jean Monnet Dialogue.
In explaining the development, Papuashvili’s cabinet noted the recent election of the new Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia and a new President of the European Parliament since the launch of Georgia’s communication with the EP president on initiation of the Jean Monnet Dialogue process.
As Papuashvili’s office said, “it is important that a meeting is held between the newly elected chairpersons and that matters related to the conduct of the dialogue are agreed upon prior to the start of the dialogue,” adding that planning a preparatory visit would be logical and appropriate precisely after this.
The response statement reads that the Jean Monnet Dialogue is based on the principle of minimal publicity, therefore, Papuashvili’s cabinet believes that the statement issued by the three MEPs can only “increases the risk of polarization and does not promote the start of the dialogue process.”
According to Irakli Kadagishvili, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules, the visit of the MEPs has not been agreed upon with the Parliament Speaker. Kadagishvili told reporters that the statement that the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament ‘could not find the time’ was not constructive, noting that the format of the meeting should be agreed in a completely different mode and level.
According to Kadagishvili, this dialogue should not serve to deepen the polarization, but to reduce it and to start a dialogue between the political parties in the Parliament.
