Georgian Dream to Send De-oligarchization Law to Venice Commission
Mamuka Mdinaradze, Chairperson of the Georgian Dream Parliamentary faction and the party’s executive secretary, announced during a briefing on 28 November that the party has decided to send the draft law on de-oligarchization to the Venice Commission for its opinion.
MP Mdinaradze emphasized that the decision was made because “we respect the call of our friends” and “in order not to leave room for speculation, and for the country and Georgian Dream to not be blamed…”
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He noted that accordingly, Parliament will hold off on considering the law in its third hearing until the Venice Commission has delivered its conclusions on the bill.
The MP emphasized that their only request is that the “law be evaluated in a timely manner […] and that the process be accelerated and not happen as in the case of Ukraine, where it took more than a year to get a conclusion.”
The EU Delegation in Georgia welcomed the decision and emphasized that it is “important to consult international standard setters and implement their recommendations.”
The law was drafted in response to the European Commission’s recommendation on de-oligarchization and has transferred the Ukrainian de-oligarchization law to Georgia, albeit with some changes like granting the Government the ability to compile the list of oligarchs instead of the President.
Notably, the ruling party has controversially maintained that Bidzina Ivanishvili – GD founder and ex-Prime Minister – is not an oligarch, despite many contending he is the sole person the law should target.
In that context, civil society organizations, international partners, and members of the opposition have taken a critical view of the proposed law. For example, the Social Justice Center (SJC) published its opinion on the implementation of de-oligarchization on 17 November, which stated that “taking into account the contextual differences” between the countries, Georgia’s adoption of Ukraine’s anti-oligarchy law, “should not be considered a reasonable step.”
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
