Early elections still out of question: aftermath of the EU-led mediation between opposition and government

Shortly after mediating a meeting with Georgian PM Gharibashili on March 1, President of the European Council Charles Michel announced another meeting to occur later in the evening of the same day. PM Gharibashvili, along with representatives of the country’s opposition bloc, gathered at the Presidential palace to participate in negotiations mediated by Charles Michel.

Representatives of the opposition parties later reported that during the meeting, six main issues that urgently need to be resolved have been determined: release of the political prisoners – Nika Melia and Giorgi Rurua; the question of holding early parliamentary elections; the issue of politically motivated provision of justice in the country; redistribution of power in the Parliament and the overall facilitation and mediation of the ongoing crisis.

One of the chairmen of the opposition European Georgia party David Bakradze later noted that no one expected the meeting to provide an immediate solution to the political crisis that Georgia is currently faced with, however, the fact that all the parties involved agreed to beginning a dialogue is a crucial step.

United National Movement party's Salome Samadashvili welcomed the resumption of a dialogue between the government authorities and the opposition bloc:

“Our European partners are doing everything in their power to prevent further deepening of the ongoing crisis and help the political parties reach a consensus. Our position on the matter is very clear as two main issues concern us – releasing the political prisoners and holding early elections. We must succeed in this or else the negotiations will result in nothing at all,” Samadashvili said.

After the meeting, President Charles Michel stated that the political dialogue is 'relaunched', however, there are still issues to be resolved. President Michel added that in two weeks, in Brussels, the EU-Georgia association council will be able to assess the country’s progress in resolving the political crisis.

When commenting on the meeting, PM Gharibashvili reinstated that the question of holding early elections is not currently on agenda, as he believes in what he claimed during the meeting with the opposition – there are simply no legal grounds that would justify holding new elections. When addressing the detention of Nika Melia, the PM stated that the government “will not and cannot interfere with the provision of justice.”