Georgian Dream, Opposition Continue Consultations on 8 Public Defender Candidates

Mamuka Mdinaradze, Chairperson of the Georgian Dream Parliamentary faction and the party’s executive secretary, announced during a briefing on 28 November that the ruling party and the opposition are continuing consultations on 8 Public Defender candidates.

Per MP Mdinaradze, these candidates are:

• Ana Abashidze, the Managing Director of “Partnership for Human Rights.”
• Giorgi Burjanadze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia.
• Nugzar Kokhreidze, Chairperson of the Research-Intellectual Club ‘Dialogue of Generations.’
• Lela Gaprindashvili, chairperson of the Women’s Initiative for Equality (WIE).
• Ketevan Chachava, Executive Director of the Center for Development and Democracy
• Giorgi Mariamidze, director of the Citizens Protection Institute
• Tinatin Erkvania, attorney at the German Legal Firm, Hengeler Mueller (Berlin Office).
• Iago Khvichia, member of the GIrchi Party of Parliament 

As MP Mdinaradze noted, there were a total of 19 candidates who had submitted their applications for consideration, of which three withdrew their candidacies, and one – Nazi Janezashvili, who was nominated by civil society and is the Director of the CSO Georgia Court Watch – refused to participate in the process.

The MP noted that these 8 candidates are the ones who have enough support from the Georgian Dream or opposition parties to warrant further consideration.

“Continuing consultations on these candidates does not mean that their majority is acceptable to the Parliamentary majority, but with the mentioned method of exclusion, we came to the logical conclusion that there is no point in continuing consultations on other candidates,” MP Mdinaradze underlined.

Timeline of the Leadup to Selecting the Public Defender:

• 01/09/2022 – Georgian Dream Will Not Nominate Public Defender Candidates, says GD MP
• 01/09/2022 – U.S. Ambassador Urges Inclusivity in Selecting Public Defender
• 09/09/2022 – Public Defender’s Office Criticizes Draft Bill on Nominating Ombudsman
• 15/09/2022 – Parliament Speaker Sets Rules for Nominating Public Defender
• 27/09/2022 – Civil Society Organizations Present Candidates for New Public Defender
• 27/09/2022 – Parliament Reveals Working Group Meant to Evaluate Public Defender Candidates
• 30/09/2022 – Parliament Releases List of Public Defender Applicants
• 10/10/2022 – Civil Society Weighs in on Public Defender Selection Process
• 11/10/2022 – Public Defender Report Met with Ruling Party Scorn
• 15/10/2022 – Review Committee Gives Top Marks to CSO-nominated Public Defender Candidates
• 21/10/2022 – Georgian Dream Chairperson Talks Selecting Public Defender while Criticizing Lomjaria
• 28/10/2022 – New Public Defender Must be Free of Political Influence, urges Council of Religions, Minorities,

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