PM Against Overriding Presidential Veto on Constitutional Court Bill
PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said he will try to convince the majority in the Parliament not to override presidential veto on a controversial bill on Constitutional Court.
“I will do my best in order for the [parliamentary] majority to accept objections voiced in presidential veto and not to have [discussions] about overriding the veto,” PM Kvirikashvili told Georgian journalists in Bordeaux, where he met French President François Hollande on May 31.
“We will probably accept president’s objections,” said Kvirikashvili, who chairs the ruling GDDG party, which has the largest group in the Parliament.
President Giorgi Margvelashvili has vetoed a controversial bill on Constitutional Court increasing the quorum required for the Court to decide cases.
The move was expected after the Council of Europe’s advisory body, Venice Commission, criticized in its preliminary opinion released on May 27, those points of the bill, which were source of concern for many Georgian watchdog groups, and because of which opposition lawmakers were strongly against of the bill, proposed by ruling GDDG party.
Announcing about his decision on vetoing the bill, President Margvelashvili said on May 31 that his objections, which the Parliament will have to either accept or override the veto, were drafted as a result of “constructive” work with PM Kvirikashvili, who is chairman of the ruling GDDG party and who earlier defended the controversial bill.
The PM told journalists in Bordeaux that a dialogue, which preceded president’s decision to veto the bill, is “a very successful precedent.”
“We had a very constructive dialogue with the President in recent days. Parliament Speaker [Davit Usupashvili] and lawmakers who were working [on the bill] were also involved in this dialogue, which was concluded successfully. We have agreed on a model, which will be fully in line with requirements laid out by the Venice Commission and at the same time our objections will also be taken into consideration,” PM Kvirikashvili said.
President Margvelashvili said that his veto includes objections against the proposal to increase quorum required for the Constitutional Court to decide cases and limiting mandate of judges during last three months of their 10-year term in office.
Support of at least 76 MPs is required to override a presidential veto.
The bill was passed with 83 votes and with 81 votes during its second and third readings, respectively.