Georgia’s problem lack of trust in institutions, president says

Giorgi Margvelashvili. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in an address to parliament on Friday that he has warned that there would be problems if people continued to distrust the country’s institutions.

“During the recent year, I have repeatedly underlined that disrespect for institutions, balancing and avoiding principles of distribution of powers would create difficulties for the state system.”

The president said, in recent days it has been unclear who the institutions were serving, the political leadership or the state.

The tension caused the dismissal or resignation of three ministers and created a new configuration in parliament.

All three ministers were leading key areas of the country’s ‘Euro Atlantic’ integration and so the crisis caused questions about how effectively the process of transforming Georgia into a European country will be from now on.

“So I think today, as never again, it is important to consolidate the course, give new impulses to it and demonstrate the irreversibility of this course,” he added.

His observations about the country came in an address scheduled because of the political crisis last week, and in order to refocus the country’s leaders into working on how to integrate Georgia with Europe and NATO. The address also dealt with many other issues, including domestic affairs.

After his speech, the National Movement delegates left the hall in protest because they weren’t given an opportunity to respond to the president or ask questions. The speaker of parliament held a speech after the president and called the UNM members’ walkout ‘a shame.’

The president said that the government must protect politicians from being discredited in order to avoid an ineffective state system. As an example, he remembered a case when employees at the Agriculture Ministry were suspected of corruption and a minister who gave a ‘new impulse’ to the development of agriculture resigned. In the end, guilt was not proven by the court, but it all ended there.

Now, he said ministry employees who are recognized by NATO for creating a transparent system, are accused of crime. He continued saying that effective parliamentary control is important to protect politicians from being discredited.

During his speech, Margbelashvili said that one thing is clear, that a government of two lords is impossible.

“You cannot simultaneously make declarations about European goals and at the same time build a state on some different style,” he said, adding that Mikheil Saakashvili’s government was speaking loudly about its ‘pro-western’ course, but simultaneously wanted to build an undemocratic state – which failed.

Speaking of the recent political crisis, he said that the reasons for the tension are deeper than an incompatibility between the Free Democrats and the Georgian Dream coalition. The reason is lack of institutional government.