“Georgian Dream” releases a statement regarding the agreement

The Georgian Dream party has released a statement regarding the final document proposed by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. According to them, they realize the responsibility before their fellow citizens, our country and the international community.

“After the first phase of the talks mediated by President Michel's Special Envoy ended without result, the Georgian Dream took a responsible step and publicly signed an EU-brokered document setting out the terms of an agreement between the ruling party and the opposition. The opposition did not sign the document submitted by the European Union.

Given that our country today is facing serious challenges caused by the pandemic and the geopolitical situation in the region, we realize our responsibility to our fellow citizens, our country and the international community.

The Georgian Dream is the decision-making force that rightly has the highest level of support in fair  democratic elections. That is why we are paying close attention to the advice and proposals of our partners to reach an agreement and are ready to start discussing with the team the possibility of increasing the 40% confidence level, which was supported by the opposition under the March 8, 2020 agreement.

We also want to express our position on G. Rurua, he is neither a politician nor a person who has made any changes in the political process. The reflection of the issue of his release in the agreement between the parties is a gross example of political interference with the judiciary. We take into account the existing reality and the attitude of our partners, which is why we will not express our critical position if the President of Georgia pardons him.

We are taking these steps together with our international partners, the European Union and President Michel, whom we thank for the steps and efforts taken to improve the political situation, in the context that it will once again be clearly stated that the 2020 parliamentary elections were in line with fair and democratic principles, which was confirmed in the final report of the ODIHR International Observation Mission and for which the European structures will be involved in the commission set up to evaluate the 2020 parliamentary elections. In addition, our decision regarding the prisoners whose release is demanded by the opposition is based on the necessary condition that political interference in any criminal case will be ruled out in the future.

Since there are two more ongoing cases - so-called Khazaradze-Japaridze and N. Gvaramia cases, where in one case the persons  under investigation and ongoing proceedings formed a political party after the investigation and found asylum in their political status and in the other case, the person against whom proceedings are also pending (he was the Deputy Prosecutor General under the previous government), founded a television station and is trying to gain immunity through journalism- these cases should be examined with the involvement of international experts in the field of law, in order to exclude the possibility of a political solution to these cases and they should be assessed only according to legal standards. We believe that this will exclude all subjective perceptions in our society, whether these cases are politically motivated.

We believe that during these years, the Georgian judiciary, court and prosecutor's office, where important reforms have been carried out and the situation has improved qualitatively, have been subjected to biased and motivated attacks by the opposition and related media in order to discredit it. The Georgian judiciary has improved significantly in terms of independence and justice, as evidenced by international ratings from the World Bank and the “Heritage Foundation”, which rank the Georgian judiciary in the top 20 in Europe and outperform several other EU member states. According to the “IPSOS France” survey, the trust of the Georgian population in the judiciary is higher than 50%, which is close to the level of developed EU countries. Of course, the principle of 2/3 given in the agreement document should be clarified and written in accordance with European practice, so as not to interfere in the process or block it.

Given that we have signed the first document submitted under the auspices of the European Union and we are ready to consider the updated document - after signing the updated document, we will not further adjust the terms and we will not agree to any substantive additions. NegotMicheiations on the terms are over and we call on the opposition to take responsible steps," – reads the statement of the Georgian Dream.