The first meeting to discuss a plan for dealing with the 12 suggestions made by the European Commission for Georgia's EU candidacy was hosted by Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on July 7. Lelo for Georgia, European Georgia, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, and the United National Movement, the largest opposition party, refused to participate in the process.

Ana Buchukuri (for Georgia), Khatuna Samnidze, of the Republican Party and Sandro Rakviashvili (for Girchi) attended the meeting. In addition to the Speaker, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) was represented by Mikheil Sarjveladze, chair of the human rights and civic integration committee, and Anri Okhanashvili, chair of the legal affairs committee.

MP from opposition side Buchukuri said: "I personally questioned the Georgian Dream's willingness to make concessions as the government and one of the primary causes of divisiveness. Sincerely, we didn't receive a clear and unambiguous response from them. “For Georgia would continue taking part in all procedures," she added. MP expressed sadness that UNM was not present but insisted that GD, as the ruling party, bears the bulk of the blame.

MP Rakviashvili stated, “If the process goes forward and it is not just talking, the problem of polarization will naturally be removed because the main problem is that we cannot cooperate… We are not obliged to love each other but we can [show] that [we can] cooperate with each other… That is, when the work on draft laws begins in the committees, it should be very constructive, very understandable, and not something formalistic.”

Republican MP Samnidze responded to MP Okhanashvili's suggestions to form a commission to keep track of political speech. According to MP Samnidze, depolarization means actual concessions and moves towards each other, not monitoring and regulating my words while I am writing reports and sending them someplace." 

Moreover, Georgian opposition parties have denounced Georgian Dream chairman Irakli Kobakhidze's declaration that the party will vote for a completely proportional system a month after the nation achieves EU candidate status in return and decrease the election threshold to 2 percent. 

Lasha Damenia, a member of European Georgia criticised the Georgian Dream for its shameless declarations and their trade-off suggestions, which do little to forward the work at hand. Damenia stated once more that talking with GD is unthinkable. In order to offer Georgia a chance to re-join the European family, he stated that our mission remains unchanged: to remove [ex-PM Bidzina] Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream from the government as soon as feasible.

Irakli Kobakhidze and Georgian Dream failed to pass this test of trust, according to Paata Manjgaladze, Strategy Aghmashenebeli MP. “Georgian Dream is simulating the process, and if we do as they suggest, we will lose another six months in our quest to become an EU candidate. We may lose hope for obtaining EU membership in the upcoming years. This is a warning to the West, the opposition, and the populace. They are essentially saying to the [Western] world, if you don't give us status, we'll behave worse," he flagged.

Earlier, Caucasus Watch reported that a coalition of activist CSOs and policy think tanks also devised a detailed plan for satisfying the twelve criteria established by the European Commission for Georgia to advance in the candidacy process within a few days.

Also, in a July 3 Facebook post, President Salome Zourabichvili stated that neither the plan unveiled by the leader of the governing party, Irakli Kobakhidze, nor the demands for Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili's resignation have anything in common with a genuine national consensus or the action plan necessary for EU candidacy. "The people's manifestation of European spirit is a magnificent force that safeguards the honour of our country," said the President.

Read also:

A Second Rally in Georgia Demanding the Resignation of Garibashvili 

Georgian Pro-EU March in the Absence of European Commission Backing for Georgia’s EU Candidacy

No backing from the European Commission for Georgia's candidacy