Day: January 30, 2024
On January 30, the civil society organizations working for the strengthening of democracy and rule of law in Georgia issued a statement concerning the participation of CSOs in the working meeting on the EU’s nine conditions in the Parliament. According to their statement, the undersigned organizations were denied participation in yesterday’s meeting because they are not part of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform.
Signatory organizations: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA); Sapari; Social Justice Center; Democracy Research Institute (DRI); Europe-Georgia Institute (EGI); Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI); Caucasus Open Space; Rights Georgia; International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED); Human Rights Center.
The organizations note that despite leaving the platform, they have been working on the nine conditions for years. After being informed about the planned meeting, some of the CSOs sent letters to the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, asking to be invited to the table. They asked the Parliament to “expand the format of cooperation with the civil sector and ensure the holding of a broad working format and the participation of interested organizations in it”.
The CSOs were denied the participation. The statement notes: “We believe that taking into account the 9th condition of the European Commission, the Parliament is obliged to ensure a real working process, expand the format of cooperation with the civil sector and give all interested organizations the opportunity to participate in the European integration process of Georgia.”
Shalva Papuashvili confirmed on January 29 that the CSOs were invited to the meeting through the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform, which some of the organizations had left. Papuashvili noted that these organizations had sent letters asking to attend the meeting individually, but they were refused and told that if they wanted to participate, they should do so through the platform.
After the meeting, Nino Chkhobadze, representative of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform, noted that civil society can’t be represented by the Platform alone. She called for more involvement of civil society organizations in the process of reform implementation and more participation at the level of transparent working groups.
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Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced his resignation at a special briefing this afternoon, confirming the news actively disseminated by media since Monday morning about the expected spat of posts between the Georgian Dream Chair, Irakli Kobakhidze, and PM Garibashvili. Irakli Garibashvili explained his resignation by party democracy, saying it is necessary to “give others a chance.” At a special briefing, the prime minister also claimed that he had accepted an offer to become chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The ruling Georgian Dream MPs confirm that the party Chair, Irakli Kobakhidze, is being considered a substitute for PM Garibashvili. The official nomination of Irakli Kobakhidze as a PM candidate is planned at a party conference scheduled for 1st February. Opposition media outlets suggest that current defense, foreign affairs, justice, health ministers, as well as “die-hard” culture minister won’t be included in a new cabinet.
Opposition parties reacted to the resignation of the Prime Minister, linking it to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s political comeback and corruption scandals allegedly involving PM Garibashvili and his family members. Opposition politicians argue that replacing one Irakli with another won’t have any meaningful impact on Georgian politics since Bidzina Ivanishvili continues to hold absolute power, pulling the triggers from behind the scenes.
A working meeting between the representatives of the ruling party, the opposition, and civil society on the Government’s action plan of measures to implement the European Commission’s nine conditions was held in the Parliament. Most opposition MPs are skeptical of the ruling party’s intentions to demonstrate substantial progress in the reform process, urging the public not to have high expectations. The opposition Lelo party boycotted the meeting, while some influential CSOs like TI-Georgia, GYLA, and ISFED did not attend the meeting due to “technical misunderstandings” with the ruling party.
The European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar’s request to visit Abkhazia has been denied, reported Jam News, publishing Toivo Klaar’s personal statement. According to him, this is the second refusal by de facto Abkhaz authorities in the past six months.
Following the publication of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Index, in which Georgia was ranked third out of six countries, behind Moldova and Ukraine, and was said to have “lost significant ground across both democracy and good governance, and policy convergence indicators,” Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, slammed the authors of the Index, accusing them of sending inaccurate information about Georgia to European structures. According to the speaker, the Georgian authors of the index “are angry with the Georgian government, and they have taken out their anger on Georgia.”
Public Defender Levan Ioseliani appointed a new deputy, Irine Chikhladze, who will supervise children’s rights, gender equality, the rights of persons with disabilities, and equality-related issues. The position became vacant when former Deputy Public Defender Natia Julakidze resigned following allegations of nepotism and lack of human rights experience. A new Deputy Public Defender has extensive experience working for the local United Water Supply Company in various positions, and she is also a visiting professor of competition law and European law at the Georgian National University (SEU).
On January 30, the civil society organizations working for the strengthening of democracy and rule of law in Georgia issued a statement concerning the participation of CSOs in the working meeting on the EU’s nine conditions in the Parliament. According to their statement, the undersigned organizations were denied participation in yesterday’s meeting because they are not part of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform.
Signatory organizations: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA); Sapari; Social Justice Center; Democracy Research Institute (DRI); Europe-Georgia Institute (EGI); Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI); Caucasus Open Space; Rights Georgia; International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED); Human Rights Center.
The organizations note that despite leaving the platform, they have been working on the nine conditions for years. After being informed about the planned meeting, some of the CSOs sent letters to the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, asking to be invited to the table. They asked the Parliament to “expand the format of cooperation with the civil sector and ensure the holding of a broad working format and the participation of interested organizations in it”.
The CSOs were denied the participation. The statement notes: “We believe that taking into account the 9th condition of the European Commission, the Parliament is obliged to ensure a real working process, expand the format of cooperation with the civil sector and give all interested organizations the opportunity to participate in the European integration process of Georgia.”
Shalva Papuashvili confirmed on January 29 that the CSOs were invited to the meeting through the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform, which some of the organizations had left. Papuashvili noted that these organizations had sent letters asking to attend the meeting individually, but they were refused and told that if they wanted to participate, they should do so through the platform.
After the meeting, Nino Chkhobadze, representative of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Platform, noted that civil society can’t be represented by the Platform alone. She called for more involvement of civil society organizations in the process of reform implementation and more participation at the level of transparent working groups.
Also Read:
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The Daily Beat: 29 January
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced his resignation at a special briefing this afternoon, confirming the news actively disseminated by media since Monday morning about the expected spat of posts between the Georgian Dream Chair, Irakli Kobakhidze, and PM Garibashvili. Irakli Garibashvili explained his resignation by party democracy, saying it is necessary to “give others a chance.” At a special briefing, the prime minister also claimed that he had accepted an offer to become chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The ruling Georgian Dream MPs confirm that the party Chair, Irakli Kobakhidze, is being considered a substitute for PM Garibashvili. The official nomination of Irakli Kobakhidze as a PM candidate is planned at a party conference scheduled for 1st February. Opposition media outlets suggest that current defense, foreign affairs, justice, health ministers, as well as “die-hard” culture minister won’t be included in a new cabinet.
Opposition parties reacted to the resignation of the Prime Minister, linking it to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s political comeback and corruption scandals allegedly involving PM Garibashvili and his family members. Opposition politicians argue that replacing one Irakli with another won’t have any meaningful impact on Georgian politics since Bidzina Ivanishvili continues to hold absolute power, pulling the triggers from behind the scenes.
A working meeting between the representatives of the ruling party, the opposition, and civil society on the Government’s action plan of measures to implement the European Commission’s nine conditions was held in the Parliament. Most opposition MPs are skeptical of the ruling party’s intentions to demonstrate substantial progress in the reform process, urging the public not to have high expectations. The opposition Lelo party boycotted the meeting, while some influential CSOs like TI-Georgia, GYLA, and ISFED did not attend the meeting due to “technical misunderstandings” with the ruling party.
The European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar’s request to visit Abkhazia has been denied, reported Jam News, publishing Toivo Klaar’s personal statement. According to him, this is the second refusal by de facto Abkhaz authorities in the past six months.
Following the publication of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Index, in which Georgia was ranked third out of six countries, behind Moldova and Ukraine, and was said to have “lost significant ground across both democracy and good governance, and policy convergence indicators,” Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, slammed the authors of the Index, accusing them of sending inaccurate information about Georgia to European structures. According to the speaker, the Georgian authors of the index “are angry with the Georgian government, and they have taken out their anger on Georgia.”
Public Defender Levan Ioseliani appointed a new deputy, Irine Chikhladze, who will supervise children’s rights, gender equality, the rights of persons with disabilities, and equality-related issues. The position became vacant when former Deputy Public Defender Natia Julakidze resigned following allegations of nepotism and lack of human rights experience. A new Deputy Public Defender has extensive experience working for the local United Water Supply Company in various positions, and she is also a visiting professor of competition law and European law at the Georgian National University (SEU).
“Zangezur Corridor will bring tremendous benefits both to the regional and other countries,” said Chairman of the Committee on National Defense of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Hulusi Akar as he met with Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis (Parliament) Sahiba Gafarova in Baku, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac.
During the meeting, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova expressed her confidence that as a member of parliament, Hulusi Akar would contribute to the development of cooperation between the two fraternal countries.
The Speaker of Milli Majlis highlighted the suspension of the Azerbaijani delegation’s activity at PACE, as well as other issues of mutual interest.
Describing the two countries’ relations as friendly and fraternal, Hulusi Akar recalled the 44-day Patriotic War resulted in the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation.
“The restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and the fact that its flag waves over the whole sovereign territory is a symbol of pride for Türkiye,” the Chairman noted.
Hulusi Akar underlined that it is vital to develop relations not only between Türkiye and Azerbaijan, but also between all the Turkic states. He emphasized the significance of reciprocal visits in terms of developing interparliamentary ties.
The Chairman expressed his confidence that Armenia would take the hand Azerbaijan extended to them and a peace treaty would be signed soon.
The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
The post Hulusi Akar: Zangezur Corridor will bring tremendous benefits appeared first on Azerbaijan In Focus.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov has met with State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action at the Federal Foreign Office of Germany Jennifer Morgan, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac.
During the meeting, the sides discussed issues regarding Azerbaijan’s “transition to green energy” and activities within the framework of the country’s presidency of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).
Minister Parviz Shahbazov underscored that President Ilham Aliyev’s policy aimed at achieving “green growth” by 2030, declaring 2024 as the ” Green World Solidarity Year” and hosting the COP29 event in Azerbaijan would further improve national contribution to the “green energy transition” process.
The Minister highlighted the construction of wind and solar power plants and their integration into the energy system, the creation of the “Green Energy Corridor” with the involvement of four countries to export “green energy” from the Caspian Sea to Europe, as well as works done to turn the liberated territories into a “green energy zone.”
The post Azerbaijani Energy Minister meets with Germany’s Special Envoy for International Climate Action appeared first on Azerbaijan In Focus.
“The statement of the Armenian Prime Minister aims to divert attention from the process on the draft bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” said Spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada as he responded to the question of the local media on views expressed by the Prime Minister of Armenia during the Army Day, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac.
“Since the beginning of the negotiations on the draft Agreement, despite the calls from Azerbaijan to end the ongoing claims against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan within the Constitution of Armenia, in a number of decisions of the legislative body, as well as in appeals to various international courts, in official correspondence and in the letters distributed within international organizations following the 44-day Patriotic War, so far, Armenia has not taken any practical steps in this direction. In this regard, instead of moving forward with actions in this area, Armenia’s proposals with no practical importance lead to misunderstandings and are unacceptable.
It is well known that Armenia has been flagrantly violating international treaties to which Armenia itself is a party of and that recognize our territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as arms control mechanisms for almost 30 years, has engaged in aggression against Azerbaijan and has concealed the majority of its military hardware and weaponry from international arms control mechanisms by illegally deploying them in our territories.
Armenia’s claim that it takes the peace process seriously is political manipulation in light of the abovementioned facts, as well as Prime Minister Pashinyan’s statement regarding the severe militarization of his country, the recent signing of multibillion-dollar contracts for arms supply, and the expansion of the military industry. Such biased statements impede the further development and progress of the region on the basis of respect for the norms and principles of international law.
Azerbaijan will continue its peace and rehabilitation efforts and expects Armenia to take adequate steps not in words, but in deeds,” the MFA spokesperson emphasized.
The post MFA: Armenian PM’s statement impedes further development and progress of the region appeared first on Azerbaijan In Focus.