Georgian president says he may resign

President Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said he may dissolve parliament or step down if this is needed to avert a political crisis.

After months of simmering conflict between him and the government, both part of the same coalition, there was speculation that Margvelashvili might start his own political party, but he ruled this out last week.

Now, he says he may dissolve parliament in case of a political crisis, or even step down.

“If such a situation take places and if such a reality really comes, I would do it. This will be a decision to make in a specific situation. There is no situation like this today,” he said in an interview with Imedi TV.

The program host asked him whether he really thought of resigning in February 2014, to which he answered that he will neither confirm nor reject it.

“There was discussion about me being too principled, which was unacceptable. I won’t speak of details,” he answered briefly.

He also said that if the president resigns due to confrontation or tension, this must be based on the interests of the country. If he notices that he is preventing the country from developing, then he will resign.

According to the constitution, the president can dissolve parliament on one of two conditions: if the parliament cannot form a government, or of it is not able to pass a budget.

Constitutional expert Avtandil Demetrashvili says that a government is already formed, and the Georgian Dream coalition, which is the governing force in parliament and supports the prime minister in the several-month confrontation between the government and president, will never fail to pass a budget. It is therefore impossible that the president dissolves parliament.

Margvelashvili’s other option, resigning, is a possibility, but political analysts doubt that he will do it.

Political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze says Mergvelashvili only spoke about the theoretic possibilities a president has and that there was no threat in his statement, but more a regret that there is a conflict between president and government.

Members of the government coalition also do not see a threat in the president’s words.

The conflict started in March after businessman and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said in a TV interview that he is dissatisfied with Margvelashvili’s performance as president, because of the latter’s decision to start using Saakashvili’s presidential palace as his office and his position on a number of bills.