On December 24, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili held a working meeting with representatives of the opposition and civil society organizations to discuss how new elections should be held if the ruling party agrees to negotiations, and if it doesn’t – what steps can be taken to strengthen the demands for new elections.
Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia told journalists after the meeting that the President was presented with the fundamental demands outlined in the joint document being prepared by the opposition and CSOs. He also noted that at this stage the document was mainly prepared by CSOs, with some input from politicians.
Regarding the ways out of the political crisis in Georgia, Gvaramia noted that the solution could be the dissolution by the President of the 11th convocation of Parliament and set the date for new elections. He said he believes she has full constitutional right to do so, stressing that the decision must be made jointly… the decision must be made by both the society and the political parties.
Gvaramia said it was a correct decision from President Zurabishvili’s side to invite the founder and honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, for negotiations, but noted that he doesn’t expect such move from GD, stressing: “We have to be ready for concrete decisions, especially from December 29.”
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Dimitri Tskitishvili, member of the Gakharia for Georgia party, said: “The work is underway… and we agree that some principled issues should be agreed upon so that by [December] 29, if the government shows good sense and comes to negotiations… we should have our visions ready that will lead the country out of the crisis… More or less, the basic framework of our opinions is certainly ready. There are small differences on certain issues… But there is also the fact that no one expects the government to show this good will, and therefore we should be ready… that after [December 29] we should also have a plan of concrete steps so that we are ready for the expected deepening of the crisis”.
Badri Japaridze, leader of the coalition Strong Georgia: “We had a very useful and good exchange about how new elections should be held, under what conditions, in order to eliminate the irregularities that we saw on October 26. At the same time, we are discussing with the President how to take further steps to ensure new elections. The President has expressed her readiness for dialogue with Bidzina Ivanishvili, I would like to emphasize this once again.”
Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the coalition Unity-UNM: “We talked about – after December 29 – what should be the organizational mechanism that will lead, together with the legitimate President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, the political-social process in Georgia. The protest in Georgia must continue, for which we thank all those who take part in it. Tomorrow Salome Zurabishvili will talk about organizational mechanisms – what mechanism will lead the political-social process that Georgia needs.”
President Salome Zurabishvili announced on December 23 the creation of special council to prepare for the new elections. The mandate of the President ends on December 29, after the GD plans to inaugurate its chosen candidate – Mikheil Kavelashvili to the post.
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