Shevardnadze Vows to Fund Pension Backlog
(Tbilisi, July 21, 2003, Civil Georgia) – Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said that the pensions and salaries will be paid even in case of cutting budgetary expenditures.
“Funding of social programs will not be reduced in case of budgetary cutting. Teachers will get their salaries and pensions will be distributed. We have also elaborated a program on distribution of the 1998-99 budgetary backlog on pensions. Each pensioner will be able to get this sum,” Georgian President said in his Monday radio broadcast on July 21.
Shevardnadze asks the Georgian political forces to avoid using this issue for populism on the eve of the parliamentary elections in November, hinting on the hunger strike of the five MPs from the opposition National Movement party, which demand to fund the pension backlog.
The hungerstrikers intend to continue the protest actions until their requirements are not met.
The 5 members of the Parliamentary National Movement faction went on hunger strike on July 16 in the Justice Ministry of Georgia demanding funding of budgetary backlog on pensions in western Georgian city of Samtredia.
