Georgia Update – Easter & more– 20 April 2023

th of April: 2023

Qriste Aghdga! On Sunday, the 16th, all Orthodox Christians in Georgia celebrated Easter. On the night of the 15th and the 16th in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the Patriarch spoke about many issues in the country and the world. However, he mentioned polarization as one of Georgia's most significant problems. "In our society, unfortunately, there is a place for categorical thinking from many sides, with the motive of caring for the country, and aggressive speech is gaining strength, causing a sharp polarization of the population," adding "people do not realize how dangerous this attitude is." When the European Union and the Patriarch are on the same page, you’d think people would listen!

ng remarks about Georgians in: 2008

do some explaining as, since: 2010

However, Georgian Dream members claimed that Zourabishvili lied when she said that the government did not give her formal consent to visit Strasbourg. Some of them accused Zourabishvili of repeating narratives of the “radical opposition.”

Also, on Thursday, the 13th, Zourabishvili pardoned ten inmates for the Easter holiday. However, some opposition members expressed frustration as they expected Zourabishvili to pardon Nika Gvaramia and Misha. Opposition politicians criticized the president for her inconsistency, saying that although she uses harsh language against the ruling party, Zourabishvili does nothing concrete to achieve depolarization, a primary requirement for the EU candidate status.

On Friday the 14th, Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament, sent a request to Claire Bazy Malaurie, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, to urgently review the de-oligarchization law adopted in the second reading. According to Papuashvili, the Venice Commission needs to give its recommendations on the de-oligarchization law as soon as possible because the law is one of the most important issues in the way to EU candidate status.

Speaking of Georgia's EU candidate status. On Friday, Peter Fischer, German Ambassador to Georgia, in his interview with Interpressnews, said that the EU doors are open for Georgia and expressed his hope that Georgia demonstrates clear progress in essential areas like an "independent judiciary system, free and independent media, protection of minority rights, and a vigorous, lively civil society participation in the democratic process."

Let's move to the political division in the opposition. On Sunday, the 16th, Nika Melia, former head of Natsebi, opened a separate political office within the party. Commenting on the issue, Melia said that the need to open the office is clear, even though the party has elected a new chairman, Levan Khabeishvili. According to Melia, the elections within the party failed to demonstrate fairness, and many founding members did not get their place in the party. However, in its official statement, the UNM condemned Melia's strategy and called for unity within the party, arguing that separatism would harm the party and its goals.

Moreover, on Monday the 17th, one of the Natsebi leaders, Bacho Dolidzle, said that many party members question why Khabeishvili is chairman of the party.

On Tuesday, the 18th, Dato Kezerashvili, former Defense Minister and founder of "Formula" TV company, issued a statement in response to the BBC's investigation regarding his leadership of a massive financial scam. On his Facebook page, Kezerashvili promised to answer the allegations and prove his innocence. Moreover, he stated that he would support independent media and give half of his shares to the TV management and journalists while transferring the remaining shares after the end of "oligarchic rule." According to public documents, Kezerashvili held fifty-one percent of the media company. For those who didn’t read it, check out the BBC article, it is extremely clear about the unethical scam, how it is run and that Kezerashvili is in charge.

Some economic news. In the Government’s session on Tuesday, Prime Minister Gharibashvili mentioned several economic issues that will influence the Georgian economy. First, he emphasized that inflation now is five percent compared to last year’s over ten percent. Also, he stated that the executive would keep inflation at five percent for the rest of the year. Second, Gharibashvili announced that the Government wants to start the construction of Anaklia Port in Spring. According to him, the Ministry of Economy will present a detailed project as soon as possible. Keep in mind that in the past the government has sabatoged this port and that Bidzina Ivanishvili secretly invested in Poti port as they where sabotaging it, as was shown in the Panama Papers.

s. The project will launch in: 2025

Now onto the parliamentary saga. On Tuesday, the 18th opposition MPs of Parliament demanded the creation of a fact-finding commission relating to the challenges in the judicial system. Salome Samadashvili, Lelo MP, said that the opposition is in full support of the initiative. Otsneba and Opposition members of the Parliament had a fierce debate over the necessity of the commission. Irakli Kobakhidze, the Otsneba leaders, said that his party would not register for the vote to create an investigative commission and expressed full support to the judges. Khatia Dekanoidze, independent opposition MP formerly of the UNM, accused Otsneba of supporting the judicial clan that undermines the system. Speaker Shalva Papuashvili ordered the voting on the issue for the next day.

On Wednesday the 19th, the arguments over the commission continued. Although the opposition gathered fifty-two votes, by not registering for the vote on the fact-finding commission, Otsneba sabotaged the initiative. Otsneba MPs did not register for the plenary session, and the absence of a quorum of seventy-six Deputies nullified the initiative of the commission. Vakhushti Menabde, a well-known specialist in constitutional law, described Otsneba’s move as unlawful and a procedural war because the constitution states that the opposition has the right to form an investigative commission.

We’ll end with some cultural news. On Friday, the 14th, Georgia celebrated Mother Language Day or Deda Ena. Politicians from all sides along with representatives of the diplomatic corps in Georgia congratulated the public. For the occasion, Tamar Taliashvili, Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, introduced facts on the Georgian language and the significance of Deda Ena Day to members of the Committee of Council of Europe. By the way, what is your favorite Georgian word other than Khajapuri?

On Sunday the 16th, the residents of two villages of Lower Shukhuti and Upper Shukhuti in Guria province hosted a match of lelo-burti, a very old traditional sport similar to modern rugby but crazier.

aaand that's it for this week. If you don't know, Rorshok has a newsletter on Substack so check it out! It's rare so you won't be flooded with emails but it will tell you a bit about what is motivating all this. Link in the show notes!

Let us know what you think at georgia@rorshok.com

Nakhvamdis!