Tinatin Khidasheli, a former defence minister of Georgia, on Thursday told Front News that the ruling Georgian Dream party was unable to use its former MPs, who had been making anti-western statements over the past several months, to reject or block any bills required for Georgia’s European Union membership candidate status. 

She said that the nine former GD MPs would be unable to hamper the fulfillment of the EU’s 12-point conditions for Georgia’s canducacy, as the opposition would vote for such bills

Khidasheli suggested that the former ruling party MPs, who had recently created a Popular Force in a bid to “tell the public the truth|”, would be needed for the cases, when the GD moved to pass some of its proposed bills. 

After the nine MPs left the GD to join the Popular Force, which has been attacking the US and the EU since early summer, the ruling party lost  the majority and is now represented by 75 MPs in the state legislature, while at least 76 votes are mandatory for passing of laws in the 150-member parliament.