The FINANCIAL — According to online magazine Civil Georgia, lawmakers from the New Rights Party said on March 10 they were launching hunger strike to demand authorities to meet the opposition demands outlined in the January 29 memorandum.
“We are launching hunger strike in the reception of the Parliamentary Chairperson [Nino Burjanadze inside the Parliament building],” MP Pikria Chikhradze of the New Rights Party told reporters. “We want the authorities to meet those demands outlined in the opposition memorandum… that would lead to genuinely free and fair parliamentary elections. Unfortunately we have no other lever to influence on the authorities, so the [New Rights parliamentary] faction, which has always been constructive and consistent in its policies, has decided to resort this radical form of protest.”
She was speaking with journalists outside the Burjanadze’s office in the Parliament. Shortly before that statement, MP Davit Gamkrelidze, the New Rights Party leader, convened a press conference and demanded from Burjanadze to immediately hold “a public meeting” in presence of journalists to discuss issued outlined in the opposition memorandum.
MP Irina Kurdadze, a spokesperson of Burjanadze, told the Georgian Public Broadcaster, that the Parliamentary Chairperson would meet with MP Gamkrelidze and other lawmakers from the New Rights Party at 4pm local time on March 10.
“I am surprised with this move of the New Rights Party,” MP Kurdadze said. “Nino Burjanadze has a schedule and she was holding pre-arranged meetings when Mr. Gamkrelidze and other lawmakers from his party came to [Burjanadze’s office and demanded meeting]. It was impossible to cancel pre-arranged meetings… Mr. Gamkrelidze was told that Mrs. Burjanadze would meet him at 4 pm so it is not clear for us why our colleagues are launching hunger strike.”
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