Opposition Says Government Softens Stance on Peacekeepers
Opposition parliamentarians from the New Rights and Conservative parties expressed fears that the authorities plan to step back from their hard-line position over the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the South Ossetian conflict zone.
MP Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Rights, said on February 13 that there is no need to adopt an additional resolution on the peacekeepers, as the Parliament’s resolution from October 11, 2005 envisages a start of procedures for the peacekeepers’ withdrawal “automatically” if a report from the government on the peacekeepers’ performance is negative. At committee hearings on February 13 the Georgian Defense, Foreign and State Ministers all criticized the peacekeepers’ performance.
After the hearings MP Givi Targamadze, the Chairman of Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security said that in a new resolution, which the lawmakers plan to pass on February 15, the Parliament will instruct the government to prepare a detailed plan of action within a month to secure the withdrawl of the Russian troops from the South Ossetian conflict zone.
But MP Koba Davitashvili, leader of the Conservative Party, said on February 13 that this plan should have been prepared by the government long ago in order to provide for the withdrawal of the peacekeepers starting from February 15.
The October 11 resolution of the Georgian Parliament reads: “The Parliament of Georgia, in the event that the processes provided for in Paragraph 2 [to report Parliament on situation in S.Ossetia] are negatively assessed and no progress is witnessed, shall demand cessation of the peace-keeping operation on the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous District, as well as denunciation of the relevant international agreements and abolition of the existing structures starting from 15 February 2006.”
Parliamentarians from the ruling National Movement party downplayed the opposition’s allegations as groundless and say that official Tbilisi adheres to its hard-line stance over the peacekeepers but, at the same time, caution is needed to minimize the risks of a possible escalation of tensions in the South Ossetian conflict zone.
