Ruling Party Avoids Voting on Quitting CIS

The ruling majority in the Parliament thwarted a vote on opposition lawmakers’ proposal calling for Georgia’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on December 8, angering opposition lawmakers.
 
The Parliament’s procedural rules say that the Parliament can postpone voting on an issue with a decision of the majority of lawmakers, regardless of the position of the sponsor of a proposal.

The ruling National Movement party is using this tactic to avoid voting on the issue.

Theoretically, it is possible that the opposition will push for a vote on the issue at every session, but the ruling majority will be able to postpone the vote each time it is brought up.

“We suggest that you push for a vote on this proposal when the Parliament will be ready to unanimously approve this decision -meanwhile you can demand a vote at every session,” Nino Burjanadze, the Parliamentary Chairperson, told the opposition lawmakers.

“Your stance and use of this procedural tactic is equal to voting against withdrawal from the CIS,” MP Gia Tortladze of the Democratic Front opposition faction told the ruling majority.

MPs from the ruling National Movement party made it clear earlier on December 8 that they were against a draft resolution calling for quitting the CIS as proposed by the Democratic Front parliamentary faction, which unites MPs from the Republican and Conservative parties.

The opposition softened the wording of the draft resolution in a last-minute effort to convince the ruling party to support the proposal. The Democratic Front said that instead of calling for immediately quitting the CIS, it was asking that the President offer his proposals about the issue by February 15, 2007. But the ruling party rejected this proposal as well.

“We are still against this proposal and against setting any deadlines,” MP Givi Targamadze, an influential parliamentarian from the National Movement party, said.
 
The ruling majority refused to even engage in a debate over the draft resolution earlier on December 8, so the parliamentary hearings on the issue only involved speeches from opposition lawmakers.

“I cannot understand why the ruling majority is so afraid to debate this issue. It seems that they have nothing to say and they cannot explain their arguments in favor of remaining in the CIS,” MP Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of the opposition New Rights party, said.

Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze admitted that she had requested opposition lawmakers not to push for the discussion of the issue.

“I really requested you yesterday to postpone [the hearings], as now is not the right time for discussion of this issue,” Nino Burjanadze said.

Lawmakers from the ruling party made it clear that they were against the resolution calling for Georgia’s withdrawal from the CIS earlier on December 8.

“Our political team’s strategic decision is clear: we should quit [the CIS]; but when to do this is a tactical issue. We should choose the best timing for this decision,” MP Rati Samkurashvili, an MP from the ruling party, said on December 8.

“Immediate withdrawal will deprive Georgia of those favorable bilateral trade conditions which Georgia currently has with CIS-member states, so first we need relevant bilateral agreements with each of the CIS-member state,” MP Nika Rurua, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security, said.

“The CIS is not only Russia,” Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said on December 8, meaning that cooperation with other CIS-member states in the frames of the organization is important for Georgia.

MP Davit Berdzenishvili of the opposition Republican Party told the parliamentary session that the absence of bilateral trade agreements with CIS-member states is not a strong argument.

“This is a procedure that does not require much from the government, and they could have already started this process if they really wanted to quit the CIS,” MP Berdzenishvili said.

MP Davit Gamkrelidze of the opposition New Rights party told the parliamentary session that the ruling majority’s argument, that now is not the proper time to quit the CIS, lacks legitimacy.

“If it was the proper time for offering Russian consumers feces and if it was the proper time for staging spy-shows with besieging Russian troops headquarters in Tbilisi, then why it is not the proper time for quitting the CIS?… I think this is a double-standard policy; the government should show more consistency in its policy,” MP Gamkrelidze said.
 
Debates on this issue also took place on November 10, but at that time opposition lawmakers compromised by not demanding a vote on the draft resolution, claiming that they did not want to provoke any disagreements within the Georgian Parliament against the background of tensions with Russia. But the opposition also vowed that they would push the issue again in December and call for a vote on the draft resolution.