Political situation in Georgia: parliament terminates mandates of 3 Alliance of Patriots parliamentarians; Labour party leader critical towards USA officials
On 4 January, the Georgian parliament terminated the mandates of Irma Inashvili, Giorgi Lomia and Gocha Tevdoradze from the Alliance of Patriots. All three members confirmed that the applications on termination of authority were an expression of their will.
However, the Alliance of Patriots did not withdraw its electoral list, meaning that substitutes, Gela Mikadze, Nana Devdariani and Pridon Injia, could enter the parliament. The fourth Alliance of Patriots member who won a parliamentary seat, Avtandil Enukidze has already entered the parliament. In addition to the members of the Patriots Alliance, the members of other opposition parties also appealed to the parliament to terminate their term of office. However, the issue of early termination of their powers has not been considered by Parliament yet due to the ongoing negotiations between the opposition and the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The leader of Georgia’s Labour party Shalva Natelashvili made a controversial statement by congratulating the American people on “overcoming Trumpism.” Natelashvili was also critical towards the statement of the US Deputy Secretary of State Philip Reeker who demanded the opposition to enter parliament, saying that such a position is not a partnership. “The partner supports the people first and foremost, not the political elites who come and go, especially the elite that Putin sent us and whose power is based on money, bribery, violence, dictatorship, political prisons, election fraud, impoverishment of people, and the country. If you congratulate such representatives, of course, you should expect criticism,” he stated.