Alasania Snubs Meeting with Saakashvili at NSC
Alliance for Georgia will not take part in a meeting with President Saakashvili in frames of extended session of National Security Council (NSC) on October 12, Irakli Alasania, leader of the alliance, said on Monday.
“Time is up for talking; to take concrete steps is now required,” said Alasania, who participated in the first meeting of this type with the President in August.
He said that the Alliance for Georgia, which along with his party Our Georgia-Free Democrats also units Republican and New Rights parties, was ready to engaged in talks with the authorities on the issue of vital importance for the country, but Alasania also added that this dialogue should be issue-based and result-oriented.
As part of this approach, Alasania said, the Alliance for Georgia would continue its participation in an inter-party working group on electoral reform.
“Now we are waiting for the authorities to show political will [to make a progress],” Alasania said.
“We do not plan and do not deem it appropriate to participate in the today’s session of the National Security Council; but we do not rule out that if certain progress is made in the country to improve media freedom as well as – what is most important – to qualitatively change the electoral environment, naturally, we will continue dialogue with the authorities,” he added.
Another opposition party, which took part in the previous meeting in August, but refused to take part in the second one is ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia. The party official, MP Petre Mamradze, said on October 12, that the planned extended session of NSC was yet another “PR move and an imitation of democracy.”
The parliamentary opposition leaders have confirmed their intention to participate, as well as some non-parliamentary opposition parties, which also participated in the previous meeting, including Konstantine Gamsakhurdia’s Party of Freedom and Akaki Asatiani’s Traditionalists party.
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