Public consideration of the draft Constitution at Defense Ministry

On August 16, another public consideration of the draft constitution was held, this time in the Ministry of Defense. The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, David Bakradze introduced the new draft constitution to the representatives of the armed forces and the Defense Academy.

The Parliamentary Chairman stated that the attitude among the various governmental branches is utterly changed in the new draft constitution: "It is important that the various governmental branches shall balance each other as in European constitutions and that it does not happen at the expense of a weakening or strengthening of any institutions. Functions will be assessed in the manner between the President, Parliament and the Government such that all three branches will be powerful and will balance each other”.

David Bakradze noted that the parliament will get the absolutely new job of complete staffing of the Government, which will significantly increase its role. "The political party victorious in the parliamentary elections and with majority representation will appoint the Prime Minister, which will subsequently staff the ministerial cabinet. The President will be distant from this process. In the event that there is a political party with a parliamentary majority less than 50%, the other political parties will always have the chance to create a coalition, form the majority and change the Government.” He explained, as a consequence of these changes, the goal of political parties will be victory in parliamentary elections and the political centre will be moved to the Parliament. Finally, the changes will bring greater stability to the country, which will have positive impact on our economy: "A stable environment in our country will be a positive sign for investors and for domestic business.” He pointed out that the quorum for the establishment of an Investigation Commission in parliament will be reduced and the veto procedure for the President will be simplified.

According to the new draft constitution, the Presidential elections will be implemented by means of direct elections by the people. The President will be distant from routine domestic political life and relations between the Parliament and the Government will be regulated. The President will be the commander of the armed forces and will appoint the Head of their headquarters. In addition he will be the supreme representative in foreign relations of the country and will hold the right of arbiter should the country experience a crisis situation.

According to the changes to the constitution, declaration procedures for a state of emergency or military intervention will be dissociated. The President will have the power to declare martial law, while for a declaration of a state of emergency he will need consent from the Prime Minister.

After becoming acquainted with the basic provisions of the new draft constitution, the meeting continued with a question-answer session.