Opposition Girchi party releases action plan on parliament entry

By Khatia Bzhalava

Tuesday, April 13

If the ruling GD party fulfills at least one of the proposed demands, Girchi will enter the legislature.

According to Girchi, they continue boycotting differently by refusing salaries or the state party funding and participation in any parliamentary sessions, commissions, committee sittings, procedural activities, and international business visits.

Yesterday, in a teaser of its newspaper, the Girchi opposition party unveiled its action plan on Parliament entry, which consists of 7 demands and will come into force if the ruling and opposition parties fail to reach an agreement. Girchi will enter the parliament if the Georgian dream entirely fulfills one of the seven outlined issues.

The demands are as follows:

• All following parliamentary elections should be held in a fully proportional electoral system and with a natural threshold

• Private secondary schools should be fully freed from state regulation

• District police sheriffs should be directly elected by the community

• First instance judges should be chosen directly by the people, and defendants should have a right to choose between elected and appointed judges during their trials

• The government should allow a multi-currency regime

• Restitution should be made in compliance with the points agreed with the opposition

• Marijuana should be fully legalized

If none of the demands is fulfilled, Girchi will remain in boycott even though “the opposition could not prove the election fraud.” However, the newspaper teaser reads that Girchi will boycott differently from the other opposition parties as the party members will refuse to obtain salaries or state party funding, attend or participate in parliamentary sessions, commissions or committee sittings, participate in any business trip or international visit, and carry out any procedural activities provided by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament.

Regardless, Girchi noted that they will use the privileges provided by the legislation to members of parliament such as the PM immunity and the right to carry a gun (Girchi members wish to provide every citizen of Georgia with the right to bear arms).

Girchi overcame the one percent election threshold in the 2020 parliamentary elections and received four seats in the parliament. However, along with other parties that have obtained seats in parliament, Girchi refuses to take up its mandates as long as the agreement is not reached or the government does not fulfill any of the party’s demands. According to Girchi leader Vakhtang Megrelishvili, his party was the only one at the EU mediated talks that were ready to sign the agreement.