GD Parliament Staffs Commission to Investigate UNM, Threatens Criminal Liability for Refusal to Cooperate

Davit Matikashvili, the chairman of the committee on procedural issues and rules of the Georgian Dream (GD) parliament, said the GD parliament partially staffed the commission that is aimed at investigating the “crimes” of the former United National Movement (UNM) government. He also threatened that the refusal to cooperate with the commission would result in criminal liability.

Matikashvili said that the committee had set a quota of ten participants in the commission, where the GD faction will have five seats, People’s Power – two, and European socialists – one, “while two seats will remain vacant, and will be filled after, and if Gakharia’s party meets the trust of its voters and enters parliament and will naturally take these seats,” Matikashvili said.

“For those who do not cooperate, there is a specific clause in the criminal code and the corresponding liability will take place,” Matikashvili said, claiming a “similar case” from Poland that he said took place recently, “The former justice minister did not cooperate with the parliamentary investigative structure and the criminal case was opened against him.” Matikashvili added that, as in Poland, “the same will happen to anyone [in Georgia] who refuses to cooperate with the parliamentary investigative structure.” Tina Bokuchava, UNM Chair, said the party will not cooperate with the Commission.

The parliamentary commission was set up to investigate the alleged ‘crimes’ of the previous government. The processes that took place before 2012, the crimes committed then, the loss of territory, the massacre of young people in the streets, the attack on the media, must be named again,” Matikashvili said, claiming that the commission’s work will be public and transparent. The commission will have a three-month mandate, which can be extended to a maximum of six months. The investigation will not touch army generals and soldiers.

The 11th convocation of the Georgian parliament lacks legitimacy as it was formed as a result of the widely disputed October 26 elections. Besides the ruling party, four opposition forces – Coalition for Change, UNM-Unity, Strong Georgia, and Gakharia For Georgia – passed the mandatory 5-percent threshold to take seats.

As the spring session of the rump parliament opened on Tuesday, February 4, the ruling party MPs, together with their peers from People’s Power and the European Socialists, who are designated as the “parliamentary opposition” but are in fact the GD offshoots, officially terminated the mandates of the three opposition forces.

None of the opposition forces consider the parliament legitimate, but only three, except Gakharia for Georgia, officially revoked their mandates. Gakharia’s party said it doesn’t consider the Parliament legitimate, however, the party has not revoked its party list and theoretically can still enter the rump parliament. If it did so, it would be widely seen as legitimizing the one-party parliament and the disputed election results.

UPDATE: The composition of the commission became known on 10 February, when Georgian Dream presented the deputy Speaker of the GD parliament Tea Tskulukiani, Alexandre Tabatadze, Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Aluda Ghudushauri and Paata Salia as members of the commission. Sozar Subari and Guram Macharashvili of the GD off-shoot People’s Power and Ilia Injia from the Party of European Socialists will also be members of the Commission. The two seats in the 10-member commission remain vacant, and the GD is calling on Gakharia for Georgia to take its seats in the GD parliament and in the commission.

This news was updated on February 10 to include the members of the commission.

Also Read:

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• 21/11/2024 – Gakharia Urges Diplomatic Corps Not to Attend First Session of Parliament
• 02/11/2020 – All Opposition Parties Refuse to Enter Next Parliament
• 25/09/2024 – Gakharia’s For Georgia Unveils Top MP Candidates for October Vote

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