Consultations are underway in Parliament in an attempt by opposition lawmakers to negotiate the terms of setting up a potential parliamentary minority.
The creation of a parliamentary minority would theoretically enable opposition MPs to take over some of the legislative body’s posts, including the position of Vice-Speaker.
According to parliamentary regulations, a formal parliamentary minority must be made up of at least half of the MPs that are not members of the parliamentary majority. There are 90 MPs that are not in the majority, which means that currently a minimum of 45 MPs are needed to set up a formal parliamentary minority. But right now there are only 37 opposition MPs.
There is, however, a group of 21 MPs united in a parliamentary faction chaired by MP Beso Jugeli. While informally they are considered to be the ruling party?s allies, they are not technically part of the parliamentary majority. If they did join the majority, the opposition would need only 35 MPs to create a formal minority. So far, because of his political alliance, MP Jugeli has refused to cooperate with the opposition in forming a parliamentary minority.
Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) reported on November 1 that, while Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and her deputy Mikheil Machavariani are keen to compromise with the opposition over the issue, there are hard-liners among the ruling party ? including MP Khatuna Gogorishvili and MP Nika Gvaramia – who are against making any drastic changes in the parliament?s regulations.
The maximum compromise that hardliners from the ruling party say they will allow is to incorporate MP Jugeli?s faction into the parliamentary majority, which would reduce the threshold necessary for forming a parliamentary minority from the current 45 to 35 MPs.
But the opposition Democratic Front parliamentary faction, which unites MPs from the Republican and Conservative parties, is against this proposal. They say that the proposal is not a guarantee for the creation of a sustainable parliamentary minority because the ruling party could at any time ?order? MP Jugeli?s faction to quit the parliamentary majority, which would automatically lead to the dismantling of the parliamentary minority.
?The creation of a parliamentary minority should be guaranteed by the regulations and should not depend on the parliamentary majority?s desires. That is why it is necessary to change the current regulation,? MP Davit Zurabishvili of the Democratic Front faction said.
-
-
-
-
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)