“Ahali,” “Droa,” and “Girchi – More Freedom” created a coalition
Three opposition parties, “Ahali,” “Droa,” and “Girchi – More Freedom,” will participate in the 2024 parliamentary elections with a single list. The party leaders announced at a briefing that they will launch a united campaign.
“We consider Lelo to be a very solid and important partner. There were minor differences between our visions, so an agreement could not be reached at the moment. However, this does not close the process. It is natural that these negotiations will continue, and not only with Lelo. There is still enough time,” said Nika Gvaramia, co-chairman of the Akhali party.
“We are waking up today because we want to release Bidzina Ivanishvili’s government, remove Russian influences from Georgia, and make Georgia a member of the European Union,” said party co-chairman Nika Melia.
“I believe that we have a unique chance to take this country out of its current state and become a full member of the European Union in about five years. The only thing standing in the way is the existing Russian regime. Therefore, changing this regime on October 26 is a matter of principle,” said Zurab Japaridze, the leader of Girchi – More Freedom.
On July 8, it was announced that the “Unity for the Salvation of Georgia” was created with the participation of the United National Movement, joined by well-known figures and politicians.
Georgia is mentioned only once in the latest NATO declaration
The declaration of the North Atlantic Alliance was published during the Washington Summit of NATO, mentioning Georgia only once in a single section.
“We will never recognize Russia’s recent annexation of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. We also call on Russia to withdraw all its unauthorised forces from the Republic of Moldova and Georgia,” the declaration states.
In contrast, the declaration adopted at last year’s Brussels summit dedicated an entire paragraph to Georgia, expressing full support. However, it should be noted that in the declaration of the 2022 Madrid summit, Georgia was mentioned only twice.
“NATO members should reflect on their actions in 2008,” said the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, noting that by blocking Georgia’s accession, Germany and France “gave some opportunity to Russia to carry out aggression.”
On July 11, Nino Tsilosani, an MP from Georgian Dream, remarked that the 2008 NATO declaration was “to a certain extent provocative; we became victims of violence and the beginning of war processes from the Russian side.”
The president refuses to sign the amendments in “Law on Funded Pensions”
The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, did not sign the amendments to the law on pensions.
At a special briefing, the Parliamentary Secretary of the President, Giorgi Mskhiladze, noted that “the change creates a risk that the Council will be staffed by personnel who carry the interests of the ruling party. This will enable the fund’s investments to be directed towards various governmental, less profitable projects, based on the political decisions of the ruling party, and will not serve the best interests of the population.”
The Ministry of Economy has submitted a draft law to the Parliament of Georgia, which proposes a change in the governance system of the Pension Agency. According to the bill, the pension agency’s investment and supervisory boards will be merged and replaced by a 15-member pension fund board.
It is notable that, with the changes in the law, 2 out of the 15 members of the pension fund board will be appointed by the government of Georgia. The remaining members will be selected by a government controlled commission, which will present the selected candidates to the Prime Minister of Georgia for appointment.
Ambassador of France to Georgia – “Georgia’s EU integration process is currently frozen”
According to Sheraz Gasri, the Ambassador of France to Georgia, the process of Georgia joining the European Union is currently frozen due to decisions made by the Georgian government.
“On June 27, the European Council concluded that the path to joining the European Union was de facto stopped. This is the result of decisions made by the Government of Georgia, which everyone knows. For this reason, we have decided to temporarily suspend our direct aid to the Georgian budget and to strengthen aid to civil society and the media. It is up to the Georgian government to reverse course so we can get back to what we want to do, which is to continue supporting Georgia in all fields,” the ambassador said at a reception held with journalists on the occasion of Bastille Day.
On July 10, the German ambassador also commented on the situation, stating that a “very difficult moment” has arisen in Georgia’s process of joining the European Union.
“Georgia’s accession process is stopped, which is now the policy of the European Union. This is very sad. We need to move forward as quickly as possible. We want to move forward, but the speed and quality of the accession process is in the hands of the candidate country,” said Ambassador Fischer.