Speaker urges opposition to attend plenary sessions

The Georgian Parliament Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, has urged opposition MPs to attend the plenary sessions. Papuashvili made this announcement during a bureau session.

According to Papuashvili, the opposition must be present at the plenary sessions.

“There have been several letters from the opposition indicating that they are not planning to attend the plenary sessions. I want to clarify that it is a misguided practice to refuse participation in sessions without specifying the issue, which is not the essence of a boycott. In the regulations known to me, there is no provision for a boycott that allows for simply avoiding attendance.

Therefore, I once again call on the opposition representatives to fulfil their duties. It is their job to attend the sessions and participate in the discussions,” said Shalva Papuashvili.

Speaker Papuashvili spoke about the issues on this week’s agenda.

“Tomorrow will traditionally be the time for political statements, followed by the Public Defender’s report. I request everyone to attend to hear the report. We will not have any votes tomorrow. On Wednesday and Thursday, we will consider bills, including some on an accelerated timeline. We’ll have one vote on Wednesday and two on Thursday, and the Prime Minister’s report will occupy the entire day on Friday.

Additionally, this week, we must elect Supreme Court judges and board members of the Public Broadcaster. We will also discuss constitutional amendments related to family values and the protection of minors, which the majority initiated, along with the associated legislative package. During public deliberations, we engaged with around five thousand citizens and held 11 meetings across all regions, where there was overwhelming support for this package.

On May 17, we witnessed up to a million Georgians in the capital and regions expressing their support for this package. Effectively, a public referendum on this issue has already taken place, and it is our duty to turn the citizens’ vote into law.

I hope that this week, the opposition will align with the interests of their citizens, support Georgia, participate in the discussion of this legislative package, and back it. We will also discuss the veto related to the Electoral Code. These are the main issues for this week,” said Shalva Papuashvili.