Ruling Party Lawmaker Renounces MP Mandate

MP Vano Zardiashvili of the Georgian Dream faction announced on October 7 about his plans to renounce his MP mandate citing “three-year dirty, negative campaign” against him as the reason behind his decision.

Zardiashvili’s statement came two weeks after a noisy incident between him and independent lawmaker, Eka Beselia during an interview with a Supreme Court judicial candidate at the session of the Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee. In response to Zardiashvili’s remark, Beselia physically assaulted him.

The incident erupted after independent MP Gedevan Popkhadze, who is Beselia’s political partner, slammed Zardiashvili for his “moral visions” with the latter focusing on “Beselia’s morals” that caused Beselia’s sharp reaction.

“Time has come, when you have to take care of your family and your team,” Zardiashvili said in the statement released on Monday, October 7, adding that he does not want “to be the source of provocations for those persons or political groups, who try to create a political agenda and harm positive processes” through the attacks against him.

Zardiashvili entered the Parliament in 2016. Earlier in 2013-2016, he served as the deputy chief auditor. In 2012-2013, he was the head of department at the High Council of Justice of Georgia.

Zardiashvili’s political activities frequently triggered strong criticism from opposition parties and civil society organizations, who considered him a person with close links to influential judges, accusing him of supporting the ruling party in establishing control over the judiciary.

Differences over the list of Supreme Court judicial candidates emerged within the ruling party last December that prompted several lawmakers to quit the ruling party, leaving the latter without the constitutional majority.

On December 27, 2018, Eka Beselia announced about quitting her post as the chair of the Legal Issues Committee amid internal dispute within the majority group over the appointment of Supreme Court judges.

Vano Zardiashvili, who served as the first deputy chair of the Legal Issues Committee and who was accused of lobbying the 10-member list of candidates, also quit his post.

According to the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, Zardiashvili’s decision to renounce his MP mandate will be first discussed by the Procedural Issues and Rules Committee and then put to the vote at the Parliament’s plenary session.

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