Press Digest 04.12.2014
Who possesses the Prosecutor’s Office? Mr. Usupashvili says that the Parliament crossed the line
Strike ends in Georgian Railways – how did Gharibashvili threaten Koka Guntsadze?
Chairman of the European Parliament Foreign Relations Committee is against NATO expansion
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Who possesses the Prosecutor’s Office? Mr. Usupashvili says that the Parliament crossed the line
Chief Prosecutor’s Office may become reliant on the Justice Ministry again. As it appears, Head of the Parliament, Davit Usupashvili, is discontent with the Chief Prosecutor’s work and urges his colleagues to make a new set of amendments to the bill. According to Mr. Usupashvili, the Parliament crossed the line by stripping the Justice Minister of all rights to exert control on the Prosecutor’s Office; Mr. Usupashvili has expressed readiness to be held liable for the Parliament’s wrong decision; as he thinks, the Justice Minister’s authority in relation to the Prosecutor’s Office should be expanded again,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“I should confess that we have gone too far by “disarming” the Justice Minister and depriving her of all levers over the Prosecutor’s Office. The amended legislation was approved by our MPs; however, as time passed by we have realized that the decision of the Parliament was a bit over the top. Thus, this decision is in need of a major rethink. We must put our heads together to come up with the only right decision. Anyway, I do think that the Justice Minister must be returned some leverages to detect shortfalls within the body and eliminate them,” declared Mr. Usuapshvili and added that this will make the system more effective,” says the article.
“We would like to remind our readers of the fact that the amendments to the bill on the Prosecutor’s Office came into affect in April, 2013. The bill aimed to draw a fine line between the authorities of a Chief Prosecutor and a Justice Minister and to form the Ministry of Justice as a totally independent body. The members of the minority refused to vote for the bill at that time since according to them, the bill was vague and needed more clarity,” reads the paper.
“If my memory serves me right, they made this decision due to the fact that Ms. Tsulukiani does not have a lawyer’s degree; however, according to the acting law, this degree is mandatory for her since a Justice Minister must be able to serve as a Gen Prosecutor and supervise the Chief Prosecutor’s Office. In addition, a key issue – who would control the Prosecutor’s Office — was also to be resolved. This law in fact provided a solution to this and granted the investigative body to Gharibashvili’s team. I do not think that any new decisions regarding this law will draw any kind of change since Tsulukiani and Badashvili are always ready to submit to the dictations from the Dream Government,” says Giorgi Vashadze.
“The Prosecutor’s Office as a state institution incorporated by the Justice Ministry was created for one single man and a single political party. It served the interests of the Nationals. In order to pursue its interests, the National Movement purged the body of undesired personnel and manned it with such people in whom they could always place confidence. In this way, The Prosecutor’s Office became a main pillar on which the National Movement rested on,” claims Mr. Meparishvili.
“Professor Jemal Gakhokidze also shares the aforementioned position and maintains that the key investigative body of the country must not be brought under the Executive Government’s thumb. According to him, the Prosecutor’s Office must be a totally independent body,” announces the professor.
Strike ends in Georgian Railways – how did Gharibashvili threaten Koka Guntsadze?
"Strike has come to an end in the Georgian Railways. Those at the helm of the railway have turned a deaf ear to the railway officials’ requirements for a week; however, out of the blue, they decided to jump-start negotiations with them. Consequently, they expressed readiness to meet some requirements of the strikers. However, not so long ago they categorically refused to make any kind of concessions with them. As reports went, as few as 100 railway officials announced strike and Trade Union Head, Irakli Petriashvili, who was controlled by the nationals that stood behind all this,” reports the Alia gazette.
“What has made those presiding over the railway reverse their decision and back down? Has a threat pending against the railway and its normal functioning forced them retreat and make concessions? It’s a bit unrealistic that they failed to notice this threat earlier since they knew that out of 13 thousand railway officials, 8 thousand have already gone on strike… The actual fact is that the railway leadership voiced concerns over the present situation in the railway after they had found themselves under a threat of losing their posts,” says the paper.
"The strikers claim that the situation in the railway has radically changed after Irakli Gharibashvili gave a call to Koka Guntsadze and threatened him by saying unless he regulated the situation in the railway, he would have lost his billet. Gharibashvili is said to have told Mr. Guntsadze that the people’s requirements were to be met as these requirements were completely just and fair. According to Gharibashvili, if the railway suffered a deficit in funds, those at the helm of it should have stifled their own voracious appetite by reducing their own salaries and not the hapless people’s as they worked there for peanuts even without this. As the railway officials claim, Mr. Gharibashvili gave Mr. Guntsadze 3 days to ease tensions in the railway by addressing the strikers’ demands, reads the article.
“As the circulating reports say, along with other demands, the strikers required overtime compensation. However, while holding the negotiations, they removed this requirement from the list and declared that the constitutional court will decide whether this requirement was just. The railway officials also urged them to dismiss three directors of the railway… by extending their strike the protesters could have easily exacerbated the situation and could have made them meet all their requirements; however, as the protesters claim, considering that the country has sustained really great financial damage, they held back from even more aggravating the situation,” says the author of the article.
Chairman of the European Parliament Foreign Relations Committee is against NATO expansion
"Yesterday, Chairman of the European Parliament Foreign Relations Committee, Elmar Blok, issued a special statement in which he showed his negative attitude towards their intention to seriously discuss the European prospects of the eastern neighbors of the EU: Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova,” reports the Rezonansi gazette in an article under the title Elmar Brok protest against NATO enlargement.
“NATO must strain to upgrade its military capabilities and ensure its member states’ security,” asserts one of the most influential deputies of the European Parliament. As the German Member of the European Parliament claims, he supports an initiation to provide Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia with political and financial support and pass some reforms that will move these countries closer to EU,” says the article.
“The EU has to accomplish its entrusted duties. Debates regarding the would-be NATO membership of these three countries are counterproductive. Under any circumstances, a decision to open NATO’s door to this or that country must be approved by all member states of the Alliance, and most importantly, this decision must boost security of our member countries. That is the reason why I cannot define a statement from the NATO Secretary General as beneficial for us,” declares Mr. Brok and adds that the decision made in 2008 remains valid,” says the article.
“NATO Secretary General, Jens Stolberg said Tuesday that if Ukraine expresses a genuine desire to join the alliance and meets all their requirements, NATO will open its door to this long-suffered country,” concludes the author of the article.
