Opposition urges president to call extraordinary session to address issues for EU candidacy

Five opposition parties and six independent MPs appealed to the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday to convene an extraordinary session of the Parliament starting July 18 to “timely” address the issues needed for Georgia’s EU candidate status. 

In the letter released on July 13, the opposition suggested that the issues should be raised at the extraordinary session, which would ensure the rapid fulfillment of the EU’s requirements for membership candidacy status by the end of this year. 

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that the opposition, who requested the session, “have no agenda and are only interested in sparking tension.” 

He accused the opposition of not attending the meetings initiated by him to ease polarization in the county, which is one of the 12 recommendations of the European Commission for candidacy.