Alasania rails against unilateral decision to increase MP numbers

Irakli Alasania, leader of Our Georgia–Free Democrats disapproves the constitutional changes planned for increasing parliament members from 150 to 190. At a special briefing in front of Parliament on Monday Alasania accused President Mikheil Saakashvili of making unilateral decisions. Worrying that no MPs would be present in the old building of Parliament in the near future if Parliament moves permanently to Kutaisi, the opposition leader recalled how the Georgian people had voted for a reduction of MPs through a referendum in 2003. In the beginning Georgia had more than 200 MPs but after the referendum in 2003 the number decreased to 150.

Accusing President Saakashvili of neglecting the will of Georgian society, Alasania stressed that neither the country nor its people need 190 Members of Parliament. “People already don’t know who their regional representatives are in the Parliament today because those MPs hardly ever visit the local people or raise their problematic issues at parliamentary sessions,” Alasania said. He encouraged people to stand together and oppose the initiative which is against their interests.

“Perhaps it is the step which President Saakashvili is going to make for creating new jobs,” Alasania said ironically, pointing out the bureaucratic changes on behalf of the officials. Stating that most MPs “obey” President Saakashvili’s decisions, even in the legislative branch, Alasania worried that this particular change would cost the country tens of millions of laris . He said it would be better to use this amount for social projects, or for improving the agricultural sector, or by rehabilitating schools in the villages so that children don’t have to walk tens of kilometers daily. Worrying that not only the ruling United National Movement (UNM) members, but some opposition MPs also voted for the increased MPs, Alasania stressed that it still was not the desire of the Georgian opposition at all.

Opposition MP Dimitri Lortkipanidze was among the lawmakers who opposed voting for the changes initiated by President Saakashvili this summer, calling it “political nonsense”. Lortkipanidze said he had expressed his negative opinion by refusing to participate in the activities of the special commission studying public attitudes. Explaining that the decision made by referendum can only be changed in a specific way, Lortkipanidze spoke of illegality of the planned constitutional changes to The Messenger. “People expressed their opinion in 2003 when they voted to decrease the number of MPs to 150, but the MPs stubbornly refuse to discuss the issue of a new referendum, thus they are insulting society,” Lortkipanidze told us.

As President Saakashvili had explained earlier it was the Georgian opposition that demanded an increase in the number of representatives in Parliament. This statement created a buzz among Georgia’s opposition parties, most of whom accused the President of distorting reality but he kept maintaining that the idea had began with the opposition and that he personally had been reluctant. What Irakli Alasania and other oppositionists demand today is to hold a referendum and let Georgian voters make the final decision.