Saakashvili Says Plans Public Council

President Saakashvili announced about plans to set up, what he called, a public council to help society to have its say “in decision-making” and in legislative activities.

Speaking at a ceremony of awarding a group of scientists, writers, painters with a state award, Saakashvili said that an advisory body would be empowered with the right of initiating bills.

He told the recipients of the award that they should be “more actively involved” in public life and decision-making process.

“Only the same people are seen on TV screens,” Saakashvili said and added that there were many talented people throughout Georgia, who “can contribute to development of the country and to creation of new statehood and democracy if we give them opportunity for that.”

He said that the planned public council would involve representatives of various sectors – science, culture, business, education “to give recommendations to the executive and legislative bodies.”

“The council should have powers to write laws and the Parliament should be obliged to consider those bills in a shortest period of time,” he said.

“It will give a possibility to return the politics back to the people; to return decision-making process back to the people and it will help the society to take part more actively in the process building new Georgian statehood and the democracy,” Saakashvili added.

He also said that in recent five years Georgia had managed “to create what nobody would ever imagine that it could be created in the Caucasus – a real modern state with its functioning institutions.”

“It was perceived traditionally that there are talented people in the Caucasus, they can paint, sing, dance, they are also quite strong in science, but they cannot do one thing – they fail to create the state, because they will always quarrel with each other, they will always act against the law, they will not obey the institutions, and they will not observe the rules and laws written by themselves,” Saakashvili said.

“The Georgian people, our multi-ethnic society have brushed off this stereotype and therefore, Georgia causes anger of many skeptics and of our ill-wishers because by that we have created an existential threat for them,” he continued. “This is the first important achievement. Now, we are creating a real civil society, which should be a major basis for new Georgian democracy. This is a historic process and I want that we all participate in it.”

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