Majority lawmaker defends timing of presidential pardons

A member of Georgia’s parliamentary majority, Tengiz Sharmanashvili, has defended the timing of a recent presidential pardon decree, saying the president is constitutionally entitled to issue such acts within a 24-hour period.

Speaking to journalists, Sharmanashvili said the delay may have been linked to technical clarifications or the need to obtain additional documentation. He stressed that the key issue was that the pardon act was ultimately issued.

He said that even the release of a single individual justified issuing the decree later than expected. “Even freeing one person is worth issuing such an act an hour later,” he said, adding that additional information about one or two individuals may have been needed before they were included on the pardon list.

Sharmanashvili said the president has the right to issue pardon acts without consulting anyone and noted that such decisions are made periodically and are not limited to religious holidays. He added that similar humanitarian acts could be expected in the future.

He also said that in parliamentary republics, presidents are constitutionally removed from politics when exercising powers of this kind. According to Sharmanashvili, introducing political motives into humanitarian acts undermines their purpose and creates false public expectations.

He accused critics of attempting to politicise humanitarian decisions and of seeking to shift all developments in Georgia into the sphere of political confrontation. He said this approach damages internal civic integration and deepens divisions within society.

Sharmanashvili further argued that internal political confrontation in Georgia is being influenced from outside the country and criticised the opposition for boycotting parliament. He said that 61 opposition lawmakers are currently not participating in parliamentary work, which he described as harmful to the country’s democratic process, even if it appears to benefit the ruling majority in the short term.

He said humanitarian acts, including pardons, should not be used to fuel political destabilisation or social tensions, adding that appeals related to detainees were being exploited to promote what he described as false political narratives.

Earlier, Georgia’s president, Mikheil Kavelashvili, issued a pardon for 159 convicted individuals in connection with the Orthodox Epiphany holiday.