Georgia to send 'de-oligarchization' draft law to Venice Commision
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
According to Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the Georgian Dream, the ruling party will send the draft law 'on de-oligarchization' to the Venice Commission for a legal opinion.
Mdinaradze said at the briefing held at the party office, that they will no longer discuss the draft law in the third reading and will wait for the conclusion of the Venice Commission.
The Georgian Dream called on the commission to evaluate the law in a timely manner.
"We said that we don't see any problem with sending the draft law to the Venice Commission, but we also said that we should first find out what we are dealing with. As a result of communication with the Venice Commission, it became clear that the information about the withdrawal of the conclusion on the Ukrainian analogue law, or return it with a corresponding note is a lie. The Venice Commission will deliver its conclusion to the Ukrainian Parliament next year.
In addition, it is known to the public that the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, has urged us to send the bill to the Venice Commission. The same request was voiced by the new EU ambassador to Georgia, both through mass media and during personal communication.
In the conditions when the same Ukrainian law received the approval and highest evaluation from the President of the European Commission when Ukraine and Moldova received the candidate status, and Georgia received the European perspective from the European Union, at the same time, the Ukrainian Parliament is waiting for the Commission's conclusion, we really do not consider it necessary to send it.
However, because we respect the call of our friends, because, as we have already said many times, we don't see any problems, because there is no room for speculations, there is no room to accuse this country and the Georgian Dream, we made the decision to send the bill to the Venice Commission for a legal opinion.
Accordingly, we will refuse to discuss the law in the third reading and will wait for the conclusion of the Venice Commission.
According to Mdinaradze, the information voiced by the US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, that Ukraine had withdrawn the 'de-oligarchization' bill from the Venice Commission, turned out to be a lie.
"I will refrain from assessing why the ambassador of our main strategic partner country does not answer what she relied on when she said that Ukraine withdrew the de-oligarchization bill from the Venice Commission, although the fact is that the information voiced by her, as if Ukraine had withdrawn the de-oligarchization bill from the Venice Commission, turned out to be a lie. Unfortunately," Mdinaradze stated.
