Day: June 27, 2024
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NPR News: 06-27-2024 8AM EDT
The text of the draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan has almost been finalized, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said. “We have been involved in negotiations with Azerbaijan on this issue, and Armenia is ready to fully finalize the text within a month and sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan,” he…
On June 27, the parliamentary majority passed in first reading an anti-LGBT legislative package consisting of a core bill “On Protection of Family Values and Minors” and 18 related amendments to various laws of Georgia.
The package passed with 78 votes in favor and none against. The majority of opposition MPs did not attend the plenary session as they are boycotting parliamentary work following the adoption of the foreign agents law.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvli said: “”Yesterday … we postponed the vote until today, so that the opposition had an opportunity to think about whose side they are on: are they on the side of Georgia, are they on the side of Georgian society, or are they under the influence of propaganda and other outside political groups and therefore do not participate in this vote.”
After the vote he claimed that a million of Georgians have “demanded” the changes: “The Georgian Parliament has made a really important decision,” adding that it was the “demand” of his estimated “one million” Georgian citizens who he claimed, rallied in support of the legislation on May 17.
Since the spring legislative session ends this week and the package is not being fast-tracked, it is unlikely to pass second and third readings now, but deliberations will continue in the upcoming fall session, which begins in September.
On June 26, the Venice Commission published its opinion on the core law and amendments. The Commission called on the Georgian government “reconsider this legislative proposal entirely and to not proceed with its adoption” or, if it proceeds with its adoption, to remove/modify some of the articles in a way that ensures non-discrimination of LGBTI people and compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Homophobia has been used by the ruling Georgian Dream party as one of the main pillars of its election campaign. The legislative package passed today purports to combat “LGBT propaganda” in the country, but in fact threatens some fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and assembly, and allows for the censorship of literature, film and media.
The ruling GD has also initiated an amendment to the Georgian Constitution, which will stipulate that “the protection of family values and minors shall be ensured by constitutional law” and the corresponding constitutional law, but the amendment is being shelved because the GD does not have a constitutional majority.
On June 27, the Georgian Parliament overrode the President’s veto of amendments to the rules of procedure of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia, which provide that if a decision of the CEC requiring the support of at least two-thirds of its full members cannot be adopted at a meeting of the CEC, it shall be subject to a new vote at the same meeting and shall be deemed adopted if it receives the support of a majority of the full members of the CEC.
- 30/05/2024 – Parliament Adopts Amendments to Election Code
The President’s veto was overridden by 63 votes, and the amendments were subsequently voted for with 78 votes in favor and none against.
President Salome Zurabishvili vetoed the amendments on June 13. The President’s Administrations stressed, that “with the change, the need for consensus among the parties to make decisions in the CEC will be eliminated, and the ruling party will be able to make decisions practically on a one-party basis.”
Aslo Read:
On June 27, the Georgian Parliament approved with 77 votes the parliamentary credentials of Archil Gorduladze, a new deputy from the ruling Georgian Dream party list.
Archil Gorduladze was elected as an MP to replace Giorgi Tsagareishvili, who was earlier appointed as the new Deputy Health Minister on June 19. Yesterday, June 26, the latter’s parliamentary credentials were suspended.
Archil Gorduladze has been a member of the Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo) from the ruling GD party. In 2018-2023, he was the head of the GD parliamentary faction’s office. In 2016-2017, he was the head of the legal department of the GD parliamentary faction’s office.
Gorduladze holds a master’s degree in law from Tbilisi State University.
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Tbilisi burst into celebrations as Georgia made history and reached their first major tournament knockout stage with a victory over Portugal at Euro 2024. Georgia’s top star, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has been underwhelming in the previous two games, scored an early goal in the second minute. Giorgi Mikautadze converted the penalty kick in the 57th. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili gave another top performance, denying Portugal, who dominated the possession. By beating Portugal, Georgia completed the biggest Euros upset in history, based on FIFA rankings, and created a night to remember in their debut major tournament.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said during the briefing on June 26 that Russia is ready to follow the path of Russo-Georgian “normalization” and supports any endeavors of Tbilisi in this direction, including restoring diplomatic relations. Earlier, representatives of the pro-Kremlin Solidarity for Peace party, founded in 2023, appealed to Putin with a request to completely cancel the visa regime for Georgian citizens.
The Venice Commission published its opinion on the draft constitutional law on the Protection of Family Values and Minors. The Commission calls on the Georgian government to “reconsider this legislative proposal entirely and to not proceed with its adoption” or, if it proceeds with its adoption, to remove/modify some of the articles in a way that ensures non-discrimination of LGBTI people and compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Speaker Shalva Papuashvili reacted to the Venice Commission’s follow-up opinion on the draft amendments to the Electoral Code and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, downplaying the Commission’s opinion as politicized and describing it as “a recipe for the guaranteed crisis for the Central Election Commission.”
“Despite the disinformation campaigns of the ruling party in Georgia, one thing is clear: in the Georgian parliamentary elections on October 26, voters will decide whether to stop the EU perspective or continue on the European path. With the Georgian nightmare, the European dream is over,” Michael Roth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag tweeted.
Cindy Dyer, Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, commented about the impact of the Foreign Agents Law on Georgia’s standing in the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons 2024 Report. She noted that while there was great concern about the passage of the law, the impact of the law was hard to identify during the reporting period and it will be monitored in the future.
Irakli Kupradze, Secretary General of the opposition party Lelo for Georgia, was recognized as an aggrieved party more than two months after he was beaten by police during protests against the foreign agents’ law. The opposition politician was detained during the peaceful protest on April 16. He accused riot police of politically motivated brutality and said that he was severely beaten during and after the detention.
On June 25, the office of the major opposition party United National Movement in Poti (western Georgia) was vandalized. Davit Khomeriki, Chair of the UNM regional organization in Poti, said the double-glazed windows were broken by several blows with heavy objects. Earlier on the same day, Kote Abdushelishvili, another activist involved in planning the June 30 protest rally against the Georgian Manganese mining company, and a member of the movement to save the village of Zodi, was attacked by three masked men in daylight in central Tbilisi.