Two delegations to attend UN?
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, September 11
President Giorgi Margvelashvili will attend an upcoming UN conference in the US. According to him, intensive efforts are underway with regard to his visit to the US.
“It is very important to remind everyone that the parliament defines the foreign policy of the country as per the constitution. I act within that policy. We are intensively working. There are some problems in communication. This is normal. We have a new constitution and we are now adjusting to it. This is normal. The President of Georgia will be in the Unites States, he said.
“It is very important that Georgia is represented in a worthy way. I am sure that the Prime Minister and the executive team will effectively work, but this does not mean that the president’s power should be restricted,” he said.
To the question of whether the Foreign Minister will manage to make him change his mind about the visit to the UN, the president said he will listen to all arguments, though he thinks that when the president receives an invitation, he should respond to it. According to him, his attempts at communication have not been relevantly responded to by the Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze plans to meet President Giorgi Margvelashvili in the following days. She will introduce her reasons why two delegations should not attend the UN conference.
The Prime Minister of Georgia clearly stated that he will attend the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly.
“The government discussed this issue several months ago. As the Prime Minister is the head of the executive branch, it was decided that the Prime Minister would attend the assembly," Irakli Gharibashvili said.
Head of the Elections and Political Technologies Research Centre, Kakha Kakhishvili states that a working group should be created, composed of the President’s and Prime Minister’s administration representatives, where such issues should be resolved.
“Otherwise, such confrontations might become institutional,” Kakhishvili said, adding that the current confrontation over the issue shows Georgia negatively.
“People are more interested in solving their socioeconomic problems and the country leadership should understand this,” Kakhishvili said.
The UN General Assembly will be held in New-York on September 23-27.
