Constitutional Reform Commission Chair Nominated
Parliamentary minority group nominated Avtandil Demetrashvili, a former Chairman of Constitutional Court, to chair the commission on constitutional reform on May 22.
Demetrashvili has accepted the proposal to become the chair of the commission. In an apparent reference to the rejection of opposition parties, behind the ongoing protests, to participate in the work of the commission, Demetrashvili said that although there was “some awkwardness” about the commission because of the current political situation “it is my professional duty to work on the matter as I am a specialist of constitutional law.”
Demetrashvili said that he was in favor of “a balanced system, which will rule out usurpation of power by any branches of the government… A strong president as an arbiter and of course a strong parliament.”
Demetrashvili was the Chairman of the Constitutional Court 1996-2001. In early 2004, when the authorities were planning controversial constitutional amendments shortly after the Rose Revolution, Demetrashvili was among the critics of the proposed amendments.
Parliamentary Chairman, Davit Bakradze, welcomed the nomination and said that he was ready to meet with Demetrashvili and lawmakers from the parliamentary minority on Monday to discuss details of the work of the commission.
"I welcome the readiness of the parliamentary opposition to take an active part in setting up and working of the constitutional commission. I hope that there will be a constructive approach from the non-parliamentary opposition towards this extremely important issue as well," Bakradze said.
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