The FINANCIAL — According to Civil Georgia, Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of New Rights Party – part of the eight-party bloc – said he would deem it possible to join the parliament if the authorities annulled election results in those districts in which, he said, elections were “totally rigged.”
In that case, he said, number of the ruling party’s seats in the new parliament would decrease below 100 and the National Movement would no longer have constitutional majority. According to current official results the ruling party will have about 120 seats in the 150-member parliament.
Gamkrelidze said that the proposal was of his personal and not of the entire eight-party bloc.
“I think that would be a kind of a compromise in the current situation,” Gamkrelidze said at a news conference on June 2. “I think there is something rational in this proposal… The authorities and its controlled Central Election Commission should annul results in all those districts were elections were totally rigged – Ninotsminda, Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, Marneuli etc. If that happens, percentage received by the ruling party will go down and the opposition parties’ percentage will go up and instead of having 30 seats the opposition may have about 60 in that case.”
“[If the proposal is acceptable for the authorities] I will ask other opposition parties: maybe it would be worthy to continue our struggle from inside the parliament, rather then from outside.” Gamkrelidze added.
The authorities are not likely to make this compromise. The ruling party officials have already said on several occasions that they would defend their votes and that the current parliament reflects the mood of the Georgian voters.
Three political groups – apart of the National Movement – cleared the 5% threshold and endorse candidates in the new parliament. The Labor Party and the eight-party opposition bloc have said they would boycott the new parliament and stage protest rallies to achieve the repeat parliamentary elections. The third one – Christian-Democratic Party – has refrained to give its clear-cut position about the matter so far.
The eight-party opposition bloc and the Labor Party have called for a large-scale protest rally on the day the newly elected parliament is set to convene for the first time. The opposition has warned that it plans to block the parliament building so as to prevent ruling party MPs gaining access.
There has been speculation in the Georgian media recently that there was a disagreement over the tactics within the eight-party bloc.
Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, leader of the Freedom Party – part of the eight-party opposition bloc – said in an interview with the Georgian newspaper Versia (Version), published on June 2, that although his decision at the moment was to boycott the new parliament “I will myself decide when to annul my MP mandate."
He also said he thought “the united opposition project – to run in the election on a joint ticket has already come to an end.” He, however, sidestepped to answer a question whether his party planned to quit the bloc.
Kakha Kukava of the Conservative Party – part of the eight-party bloc – acknowledged in an interview with the same newspaper that there was “certain hesitation in some parties” over the boycott.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Lomaia, the secretary of the National Security Council, has said the state will not allow anyone to hinder the activities of the newly elected parliament.
“The law will be applied against those trying to block the parliament,” he said in an interview with the weekly Kviris Palitra, published on June 2. “If they commit a crime requiring punishment, they will be detained. Will it be necessary to use force? – The state will use force and such people will be arrested. I take this opportunity to inform your [the newspaper’s] numerous readers about this, as well as those who may have such ideas.”
President Saakashvili has also warned that no one should have any “illusion that one can create problems to the authorities.” “The authorities are very strong, but we should not cross the line, over which the problems will be created to our country, as a whole,” Saakashvili said on May 30.
According to the law, the first session of the newly elected parliament should be convened not later than June 10, while the Central Election Commission should summarize the results of elections before June 8.
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