MP Gorduladze: proposal to let prosecutor-general be chosen by qualified majority is attempt to seize system

The proposal to elect the prosecutor-general by a qualified majority is an attempt to seize control of state institutions, Chair of Georgia’s Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, Archil Gorduladze said on Thursday, adding that such “absurd” demands would not be taken seriously in the future and that lawmakers with a popular mandate would decide who holds the office.

“If the so-called deep state takes over the prosecutor’s office and its agents control the selection of the prosecutor-general and exert pressure on the courts, as happened in 2003–2012, that would become an effective tool to harm Georgia,” Gorduladze said, referring to past periods of politicised control over justice bodies.

Gorduladze argued his parliamentary group holds the people’s mandate and would determine who becomes prosecutor-general, dismissing proposals he called designed to enable outside influence over the judiciary. He said attacks on law-enforcement bodies, especially the prosecution and the judiciary, displayed a systemic character intended to weaken independent institutions.