The News in Brief
Wednesday, May 4
National Movement members to wait for auction results near Tbilisi City Hall
United National Movement members plan to wait for the results of an auction that relates to the 29-hectare land along the Krtsanisi-Shindisi road (that is under construction) in the vicinity of Tbilisi City Hall.
As a member of the Tbilisi City Council from the United National Movement party, Irakli Abesadze, has declared, the auction will be over today. According to him, all Tbilisi residents must realize that a territory which was planned to be used for a road is being sold. A total of 528 trees were cut for the road's construction and thousands of lari have been spent, but this is at risk of being wasted.
‘’All this has happened to be wasted as Ivanishvili wants to purchase the territory,’ he said.
According to him, they will arrive at the City Hall at about 16:30 and observe the final results of the auction. (IPN)
UNM Lays Out Rules for Compiling Its Party List of MP Candidates
On April 30, the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party laid three principles based on which it plans to compile its party list of MP candidates for the October parliamentary elections.
UNM parliamentary minority leader MP Davit Bakradze said on Saturday that the process of compiling the party list will be “completely transparent and democratic” which will be “based on principles and not based on anyone’s desires”.
The first principle, he said, concerns regional representation; regions where the UNM and its candidates received more votes in the 2014 local elections will be increasingly represented in the party list. He said that it will be calculated based on a formula which will secure the “fair and transport” allocation of quotas.
“Each region will know that their representation [in the party list] will depend on votes they garnered in previous elections,” Bakradze said.
He said that this approach will apply to party-list candidates as well as to the process of selecting majoritarian MP candidates, which the party will nominate in 73 single-mandate constituencies.
Under the existing mixed electoral system, 77 seats in the parliament are allocated proportionally through party-list contest among political forces which will clear a 5% threshold, and 73 lawmakers are elected in 73 single-mandate constituencies with a majority vote.
The second principle, based on which candidates will be included in the party list, stems from the need of “renewal” and “attracting new energy to the party”, MP Bakradze said.
“The party has to attract new faces, individuals who are well-known and successful. This is our response to the main problem, which is the incompetence of the incumbent government…in contrast, we will present a team having competence and public confidence and you will see in this party list many new faces, people who are successful and professionals,” he said.
The third principle, Bakradze said, is naming of candidates by party leadership in order to secure “continuity, because the party already has experience and there are people who are professionals” in specific fields.
“The final list will be approved by the party’s [main governing body] political council and then the list will be presented to the public in the nearest future,” MP Bakradze said.
According to the proposed scheme, 14 places in the top 30 of UNM’s party list will go to candidates named by the party leadership and 16 will be allocated based on regional representation – 6 places to Tbilisi; Imereti and Samegrelo – 3 each; Kvemo Kartli – 2; Kakheti and Adjara – 1 each. (Civil.ge)
Georgian soldier dies in Ukraine war
One more Georgian soldier is reported to have died in the war in Ukraine.
Revaz Tsiklauri was reported dead late on Sunday. Tsiklauri died in the town Abievkaa, near Donetsk. A facility he was in was shelled.
Tsiklauri was from the village Lapankuri, near Telavi in eastern Georgia, but had lived the last 13 years in Ukraine with his family.
He served in in the military in Ukraine on a contractual basis and was a member of the 90th Air Assault Battalion.
Mikheil Ukleba, Georgia’s Ambassador to Ukraine, told Rustavi 2 that Tsiklauri was a Ukrainian citizen. The embassy is awaiting official confirmation of the soldier’s death.
He will be buried in Ukraine on Wednesday.
At least seven Georgians have died fighting in the Ukrainian war which began two years ago. (DF watch)
United National Movement members plan to wait for the results of an auction that relates to the 29-hectare land along the Krtsanisi-Shindisi road (that is under construction) in the vicinity of Tbilisi City Hall.
As a member of the Tbilisi City Council from the United National Movement party, Irakli Abesadze, has declared, the auction will be over today. According to him, all Tbilisi residents must realize that a territory which was planned to be used for a road is being sold. A total of 528 trees were cut for the road's construction and thousands of lari have been spent, but this is at risk of being wasted.
‘’All this has happened to be wasted as Ivanishvili wants to purchase the territory,’ he said.
According to him, they will arrive at the City Hall at about 16:30 and observe the final results of the auction. (IPN)
UNM Lays Out Rules for Compiling Its Party List of MP Candidates
On April 30, the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party laid three principles based on which it plans to compile its party list of MP candidates for the October parliamentary elections.
UNM parliamentary minority leader MP Davit Bakradze said on Saturday that the process of compiling the party list will be “completely transparent and democratic” which will be “based on principles and not based on anyone’s desires”.
The first principle, he said, concerns regional representation; regions where the UNM and its candidates received more votes in the 2014 local elections will be increasingly represented in the party list. He said that it will be calculated based on a formula which will secure the “fair and transport” allocation of quotas.
“Each region will know that their representation [in the party list] will depend on votes they garnered in previous elections,” Bakradze said.
He said that this approach will apply to party-list candidates as well as to the process of selecting majoritarian MP candidates, which the party will nominate in 73 single-mandate constituencies.
Under the existing mixed electoral system, 77 seats in the parliament are allocated proportionally through party-list contest among political forces which will clear a 5% threshold, and 73 lawmakers are elected in 73 single-mandate constituencies with a majority vote.
The second principle, based on which candidates will be included in the party list, stems from the need of “renewal” and “attracting new energy to the party”, MP Bakradze said.
“The party has to attract new faces, individuals who are well-known and successful. This is our response to the main problem, which is the incompetence of the incumbent government…in contrast, we will present a team having competence and public confidence and you will see in this party list many new faces, people who are successful and professionals,” he said.
The third principle, Bakradze said, is naming of candidates by party leadership in order to secure “continuity, because the party already has experience and there are people who are professionals” in specific fields.
“The final list will be approved by the party’s [main governing body] political council and then the list will be presented to the public in the nearest future,” MP Bakradze said.
According to the proposed scheme, 14 places in the top 30 of UNM’s party list will go to candidates named by the party leadership and 16 will be allocated based on regional representation – 6 places to Tbilisi; Imereti and Samegrelo – 3 each; Kvemo Kartli – 2; Kakheti and Adjara – 1 each. (Civil.ge)
Georgian soldier dies in Ukraine war
One more Georgian soldier is reported to have died in the war in Ukraine.
Revaz Tsiklauri was reported dead late on Sunday. Tsiklauri died in the town Abievkaa, near Donetsk. A facility he was in was shelled.
Tsiklauri was from the village Lapankuri, near Telavi in eastern Georgia, but had lived the last 13 years in Ukraine with his family.
He served in in the military in Ukraine on a contractual basis and was a member of the 90th Air Assault Battalion.
Mikheil Ukleba, Georgia’s Ambassador to Ukraine, told Rustavi 2 that Tsiklauri was a Ukrainian citizen. The embassy is awaiting official confirmation of the soldier’s death.
He will be buried in Ukraine on Wednesday.
At least seven Georgians have died fighting in the Ukrainian war which began two years ago. (DF watch)