The US and EU embassies have slammed the Georgian parliament, particularly the ruling Georgian Dream party, for withdrawing a stipulation on the election rule of the country’s prosecutor general from constitutional amendments.
The Georgian parliament adopted the constitutional changes with its first reading late yesterday without the stipulation that the country’s prosecutor general must be elected by three/fifth of MPs, i.e. with a large consensus among parties and not the parliamentary majority (76 MPs in the 150-member parliament).
“It is another missed opportunity to increase the independence, transparency, and integrity of Georgia’s judiciary. The proposed change in the appointment process was recommended for Georgia by the Venice Commission, an international body of legal experts, in a report requested by Parliament, as well as other international experts,” said the US embassy.
U.S. Embassy Statement on Parliament’s First Reading of Post-April 19 Agreement Constitutional Amendments https://t.co/yPXzvlDalQ
The EU embassy stated that ‘this was another measure aimed to increase the independence, transparency and quality of the Judiciary in Georgia.The European Union regrets that yet another commitment to reform the Judiciary was not upheld.’
The amendments which are currently being discussed in parliament were written in the April 19 EU-mediated agreement.
They include the stipulations that following two parliamentary elections in Georgia must be held with a two percent election threshold and in a fully proportional electoral system.
Three readings and the support of at least 113 MPs are mandatory for their approval.
The Georgian Dream withdrew from the EU-mediated agreement back in July. However, it pledged the fulfillment of all reforms proposed in the deal which ended a six-month political crisis in the country.
However, earlier to the vote, the ruling party head Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the note on the election rule of the country’s prosecutor general was ‘legally absurd’ and that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, which initially proposed the amendment ‘also makes mistakes.’
He said that the country’s prosecutor general must be elected by the parliamentary majority.
