President, Ambassadors Discuss Ways to Resume Political Dialogue

"The President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili once again reiterates her full readiness to engage in political dialogue and reconciliation processes," the President's Administration reports.

On February 12, Zurabishvili met with facilitation ambassadors to find ways to resume dialogue with political opponents.

The meeting was attended by EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell, Council of Europe Ambassador Christian Urse, US Ambassador Kelly Degnan and Acting Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Michael Fabri.

The parties exchanged information on the recent developments in Georgia. The President once again expressed her full readiness to be engaged in political dialogue and reconciliation processes.

"As I’ve said many times, I am ready to get involved in the dialogue and reconciliation processes between the different political sides in Georgia. Dialogue is the cornerstone of democracy," the President of Georgia stated before the meeting with ambassadors. 

The meeting followed the recent decision of opposition representatives to suspend dialogue with the ruling party Georgian Dream regarding the electoral system after the detention of ex-mayor of Tbilisi, Gigi Ugulava, on charges of embezzling GEL 48 million from the Tbilisi Development Fund

"The Ruling Party Georgian Dream has removed the space for agreements and negotiations in the country. Therefore, the opposition can make only one decision: all negotiations will be suspended from the moment of Ugulava's detention," David Bakradze, the leader of European Georgia, announced. 

In turn, the ruling team called on the opposition to joing them at the dialogue table.

"On behalf of the Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, we invite opponents to the dialogue table, as we believe that dialogue and consensus have no alternative. This is what our public expects and this is the recommendation of our international partners, namely to stabilize processes and resolve existing challenges in a peaceful, constructive way.

"We would like to thank our key strategic partner, the US Embassy, which calls on both the opposition and us to engage in dialogue and is ready to play the role of mediator in the political dialogue,” majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze stated. 

By Ana Dumbadze 

Related Story: Opposition Suspends Talks with Govt' after Ugulava's Detention