Opposition Lawmaker May be Stripped of MP Credentials

The Parliament will discuss at a session on March 30 the recommendation of the Parliamentary Procedural Committee to strip Valery Gelashvili, from the opposition Republican Party, of his MP credentials.

Gelashvili is suspected of being involved in management of the construction company Evra, which was founded by him. The opposition parliamentarians condemned this decision and claimed that there is no sufficient evidence proving MP Gelashvili’s involvement in the company’s management. The law prohibits lawmakers from being involved in business activities.

Parliamentarians from the ruling National Movement party demanded a probe into MP Gelashvili’s alleged business activities shortly after Mayor of the capital city Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava said on March 18 that the Evra construction firm may have been behind a fire which destroyed one of the schools in the Avlabari district of Tbilisi on March 18.

MP Gelashvili, who is currently in Lithuania where he lived before 1997 and where he reportedly still maintains part of his businesses, denied these accusations as “politically-motivated.” The opposition parties have also condemned attacks against Gelashvili as pressure on the opposition.