Verbal Confrontation in Georgian Parliament

Opposition lawmakers Elene Khoshtaria and Tina Bokuchava arrived at the session of the Legal Affairs Committee in Georgian Parliament with the masks of ruling party Georgian Dream leader Bidzina  Ivanishvili on their faces while the candidate for the position of Prosecutor General, Irakli Shotadze, was delivering a speech. 

Opposition members called Shotadze “Ivanishvili’s slave.”

They claimed that members of the Georgian Dream are Bidzina Ivanishvili's slaves and that is why they wore masks with his face printed on it. 

In addition, opposition representatives handed over posters of former Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili and leader of European Georgia party Gigi Ugulava to majority lawmakers to express their opinion that they are both political prisoners of the current regime. 

Earlier in the morning, clashes occurred between protesters and police at the entrance to the Parliament building. 

Tensions rose at the rally organized by the 'Lelo for Georgia' political union and civil activists after the protesters tried to hang trainers on the iron fences.

They explained that it was a form of protest against the fact that former Prosecutor General Shotadze was again nominated for the post by the Prosecutorial Council.

Ex-Prosecutor General, lawyer Irakli Shotadze, resigned on May 31, 2018, amid protests over the high-profile “Khorava Street” murder case involving teenagers.

Recently, he was again nominated for the vacant position of Prosecutor General of Georgia by the LEPL Georgian Technical University.

The Prosecutorial Council selected his candidacy for the position of the Prosecutor General with 11 out of a total 12 votes and submitted the candidate to the Parliament for approval.

In order to be elected as a Prosecutor General, 76 MPs of a total of 150 should vote for him.

Parliament elects Prosecutor Generals for a six-year term. 

By Ana Dumbadze 

Related Story: Ex-Prosecutor General Again Selected for the Post