Five Opposition Parties Agree on Economic, Education Reforms
On September 28, five opposition parties, European Georgia, United National Movement, New Political Center – Girchi, Strategy Agmashenebeli and Democratic Movement – United Georgia, signed an agreement on economic and education reforms.
The opposition parties said the agreement encompasses a number of planned reforms that will be carried out if they come to power after the October 31 parliamentary elections.
As per the agreement, the opposition aims to carry out reforms in three domains: land ownership, education and the size of the government.
The parties agreed on a general framework for land restitution, stating that land which is not registered to, but still “practically” owned by persons or communities, should be registered as their property. According to the agreement, state-owned properties and natural resources, besides specific exceptions, should be equally distributed to citizens.
The five opposition parties also agreed that the size of the government should be cut down to at least 20% of GDP before 2024 and that during the first 100 days of coming to power, preventive mechanisms against the depreciation of GEL should be worked out.
The agreement also envisages deregulating private education and providing public schools with autonomy in governance and financial matters.
This is a third agreement signed by the opposition parties, facilitated by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a U.S.-based non-profit, following March 13 agreement on judicial system reforms and September 16 agreement on reforming state bodies, involving Interior Ministry, Prosecutor’s Office, and the State Security service.
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