Ivanishvili about recalling MPs if necessary

Leader of the Georgian Dream coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili stated recently that if the MP does not fulfill his/her duties and obligations, he/she will be recalled from the parliament before the expiration of the MP term and so this MP would be substituted for a better one. The statement was made during a public rally.

The Georgian constitutionalists– in particular one of the authors of the current amendments in the constitution– Avtandil Demetrashvili, criticized this approach, saying that it looks like Ivanishvili wants to independently decide the fate of the MP and recall him according to his wish. Of course this would not be possible under the current constitution and to achieve this, extra amendments would need added to the constitution. Most constitutionalists believe that the mechanism of recalling MPs goes against the principles of parliamentarianism and such precedents were practiced during Soviet times.

Currently, there are two ways of recalling an MP– a majoritarian MP with a single mandate can only be recalled by the people who elected him or her and MPs from the proportional party list could be recalled by the decision of the party itself. So far there has been no case of such recalls in Georgia.

Constitutionalist Vakhtang Khmaladze thinks that this is a risky adventure. It contains the risk that the MP could be blackmailed. The principle of recalling majoritarians could be used for accepting the desirable MP into the parliament and this is a very subjective issue. Most analysts still suggest that this phrase was used by Ivanishvili as a part of his PR campaign to please the public and gain more voters.