Parliament transparency worsened in 2022 – TI report

The report by Transparency International Georgia, summarizing the activities of the Georgian parliament last year, on Thursday said the body’s transparency had “significantly worsened” in 2022. 

 

The report said the representatives of the media and civil sector had been “unreasonably restricted” from entering the parliament building and attending the committee sessions, with a general reference to the security rules of the parliament. 

 

“The parliament revoked permanent access to the representatives of the non-governmental organization monitoring the body,” TI Georgia said.

 

It also said the body did not take actions to give the opposition enough control functions and to strengthen its functionality.

 

In another note, the organization said 126 MPs had used the right to speak last year, added 10 of those who did not make a speech were from the ruling party and eight from the opposition. 

 

The organization also counted that Koba Nakopia from the opposition (13 absences), and Eliso Bolkvadze from the majority (11 absences) missed the plenary session due to dishonorable reasons the most times.

 

The report said the parliament had spent ₾1 739 782.93 on business trips abroad for 84 MPs in 2022. 

 

The report positively evaluated the creation of the anti-corruption bureau and the legislative changes adopted to strengthen parliamentary control and gender equality as part of Georgia’s 12 priorities for obtaining the EU candidacy. However, it is also mentioned that “the parliament failed to ensure sufficient inclusiveness of the process, sufficient involvement of opposition representatives and civil society”.