The Daily Beat: 14 July

A group of 44 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) lodged a letter addressed to President Zurabishvili, Parliamentary Speaker Papuashvili, and Prime Minister Garibashvili urging to transfer ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili to one of the European Union member states. The MEPs stressed the need for Saakashvili to receive the necessary and appropriate medical care.

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada registered a draft petition on the pardoning of the ex-President, Mikheil Saakashvili. The draft petition is addressed to President Salome Zurabishvili, and the legislatures of the EU member states, calling for humanitarian action and pardoning of Ukrainian citizen Saakashvili. Ukrainian lawmakers have not yet voted on the petition.

At a press briefing, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze stated that one of the Polish doctors who arrived in Georgia to study the health condition of Mikheil Saakashvili tried to “covertly sneak” a sample taken from the ex-president, providing a video recording of the incident.

The outgoing U.S. Ambassador, Kelly Degnan, held a Facebook live Q&A session with Georgian citizens, expressing confidence in a positive future between Georgia and the United States, emphasizing the US commitment to Georgia’s aspirations of joining the EU and NATO. Ambassador Degnan also spoke of US-Georgia relations, outlining three key priorities: enhancing Georgia’s security and defense capabilities against aggressive neighbors, fostering economic growth and prosperity for all Georgians, and supporting the development of democratic institutions.

As the NATO Summit in Vilnius is over, politicians from the Georgian Dream majority and the opposition assessed its political consequences for the country. While the ruling party representatives claim that the status quo in NATO-Georgia relations is maintained and NATO continues to support Georgia, the opposition believes otherwise, saying there are clear signs of regress. Civil.ge prepared a compilation of remarks on this matter from both the ruling party and the opposition.    

Comings and Goings

The Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules voted in favor of the early termination of parliamentary powers of Davit Sergeenko. According to committee chairman Irakli Kadagishvili, the early termination of Davit Sergeenko’s parliamentary mandate is because he missed most of the spring sessions. Once Health Minister and a close ally of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Sergeenko was one of the few ruling party MPs who did not support the Russian-style draft “law on foreign agents.”