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Tuesday,
August 14,
2007, #154 (1421)
By Nino Mumladze Opposition politicians say a new law on property legalization is a "sham." The bill, which is meant to be an amnesty measure for property purchased from the last government but includes a long list of exemptions, will neither legalize nor protect, they argue. "The publicized list of thousands of disputed properties that are subject to legal review and thus won't fall under the shield of the legalization law proves our predictions-that by adopting this sham law the government has empowered itself to rip off almost any property from anyone with full discretion," Manana Nachkhebia from the New Rights opposition party told the Messenger. The property legalization law was initiated early this year after alleged multiple cases of property rights infringement as the Rose administration seized property which, authorities said, was bought in illegal deals with the previous government. The opposition petitioned President Saakashvili to enshrine in law additional guarantees for the protection of private property. The resulting draft law was meant to be a sweeping amnesty, legitimizing all property privatized before April 2007, but during deliberation the majority forced in a key clause: the law would not apply to properties already under investigation or seized by the state. On July 24, two days before the controversial law came into force, the parliament published on its website over 200 pages listing property around the country which was being investigated-and therefore exempt from the amnesty. During discussions of the draft law in the parliamentary Committee for Legal Affairs, the majority had suggested the number of properties subject to review wouldn't be more than 50. Opposition politicians that had boycotted the final version of the bill, calling instead for an all-inclusive amnesty which would "leave no gaps for further manipulation from the government, including political revenge leverages," now say they will wage a political fight against it. "At this point [with the law already in force] there are no legislative mechanisms to fight the long list of property revision, but there is a political way of opposing it," lawyer Tina Khidasheli, a leading Republican Party member, told the Messenger. "This list embraces most of the tourism resort zones across Georgia like Gudauri, Abstumani, Adjara…This is a new wave of Bolshevism where the government is obsessed with property appropriation to quickly get back what their predecessors had once sold, in order to either distribute it between government structures or put it up for privatization again," she adds. Khidasheli claims the list encompasses practically everything that was privatized since 1994 within Georgian borders, and says it was a shock to not only the opposition but many pro-government political parties as well. However, majority MP Levan Bezhashvili, chair of the Legal Affairs Committee, denied the claims. "This is false, the suggestion that this list questions almost all privatized property," Bezhashvili countered. He adds that just because a property is on the list for review doesn't mean it will necessary be taken from its owner. "The final outcome will depend on the character and seriousness of violations, as provided for by the legislation," he says. The MP predicted that about a quarter of the properties on the list would face seizure. "Everyone will be treated equally, based on the law," Bezhashvili insisted. Nachkhebia remains
unconvinced. If not for property owners' persistent efforts to discover
whether they're under review, she said, many won't even be aware they're
being investigated until the one-month window for appeals expires.
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'Exceptions
the rule' in new property legalization law, opposition says