Tbilisi budget will be re-discussed
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Thursday, March 6
The issue of Tbilisi budget will be discussed at the city council on March 7.
According to the chairperson of the fraction Georgian Dream-Tbiliselebi, Guliko Zumbadze, the City Council has received the budget for City Hall for the fourth time. She said a large part of their demands were taken into account.
"We are working on this budget project. When we finish studying this budget project we will be able to make a statement about it. I always believed that City Council and the Mayor’s Office would be able to come up with the final budget,” Zumbadze stated.
Zumbadze said the agenda of Friday’s special session includes discussion of the draft budget.
Member of the parliament minority, Pavle Kublashvili, believes that the decision about the Tbilisi budget has been taken by the Prime Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili.
“We see that the budget is not approved for 3 months and the reason for its rejection is politically motivated,” Kublashvilis said. He thinks the Prime Minister is standing behind this process. Otherwise he said nothing would have prevented it.
According to Kublashvili, the Georgian government has chosen a dangerous path. “This is the last vote for the budget and if it is not approved, the self-governance system will be replaced by direct government. The result of which will be catastrophic for self-governance,” Kublashvili stated.
The budget submitted by the Mayor’s office to the Tbilisi City Council has failed three times. According to the law, the new 2014 budget discussions should take place before March 11.