Majority to Reject De-oligarchization Bill, Sending Draft Action Plan to Venice Commission
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
After the parliamentary majority meeting at the central office of Georgian Dream the party's leader, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced that on September 19, the majority will vote on the de-oligarchization bill in its third reading and will not support it.
According to Kobakhidze, the government has developed a draft action plan for de-oligarchization, which will be sent to the Venice Commission for evaluation. The final version of the project will be determined through collaboration with the European Commission.
Kobakhidze stated that the action plan includes several main directions and covers all relevant areas. He mentioned that a similar approach has been implemented in Moldova.
Additionally, Kobakhidze stated that amendments to the Law on General Courts have been developed and will be introduced in Parliament by the end of this week for review by the Venice Commission.
"Meetings were held with representatives of the European Commission during which four issues were identified as areas where the European Commission expects to see progress by the end of September. The government of Georgia is committed to meeting the European Commission's expectations in all four areas. In line with the European Commission's recommendation, the Commission for the Integration of Georgia into the European Union, under the Government of Georgia, has already approved a draft action plan for de-oligarchization. This plan will be finalized after additional consultations with the European Commission.
Additionally, the draft action plan will be submitted to the Venice Commission by the end of this week, as per one of the recommendations. With the approval of this action plan, the de-oligarchization law, which has already passed through two readings in Parliament, has lost its practical relevance. Therefore, in line with the European Commission's recommendation, the Parliament will deliberate on the third reading tomorrow and is not expected to approve the aforementioned bill, which was based on a personalized approach.
At the same time, we call on the European Commission to abandon the personalized approach, which is reflected in the 12 priorities and which has been actively used for speculation by the opposition in Georgia, as well as by members of the European Parliament and other foreign politicians connected to them," said Kobakhidze.
The draft law concerning the change in the number of votes required for the election of the CEC chairman and members will be presented to the Parliament for its first reading this week and subsequently sent to the Venice Commission. Additionally, laws related to the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Special Investigation Service, and the State Inspectorate Service will also be submitted to the commission.
