PM: It's Totally Unacceptable to Question March 8 Agreement

"I would like to emphasize that the March 8 Agreement was an extremely important achievement in the process of the further democratization of the country and this is an achievement of Georgian democracy, which took place with the direct participation of our strategic partners - the ambassadors of specific countries - who acted as facilitators, stated Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia, in response to a journalist's question regarding the agreement on the electoral system.

The head of government noted that the electoral system on which the parties reached an agreement on the 8th of March is such an important, qualitative, and systemic change in terms of the democratization of the country, that it is absolutely unacceptable to question this achievement in any shape or form.

"The agreement on the electoral system in the country is a fundamental issue on which the entire political spectrum has reached an agreement. The proportional system, or one that is close to a proportional system, within the framework of which we will hold this year's elections after the constitutional amendments, is of critical importance to me personally, and to our team. This is a systemic issue that emphasizes the quality of Georgian democracy and establishes the vector of its future development; this unequivocally is the greatest achievement. Questioning the constitutional amendments in any shape or form is categorically unacceptable to me - I cannot even imagine this and I am of the opinion that this is simply impossible," the PM stated.

As regards the issue of the release of specific persons, according to Giorgi Gakharia's assessment, putting forward such demands constitutes an insult to the institutions.

"I have the greatest respect for the institutions in this country; I was always of the opinion that putting forward such demands constitutes an insult to the institutions. I would like to emphasize and confirm once again that there is no political justice in the country. When the trials of specific convicts were concluded and the country's independent institutions made their decisions, and then someone says that the release of these persons might become an issue influencing the political process, or someone says that these absolutely legal issues, regarding which independent institutions have made their decisions, were the subject of a political agreement - for me this is absolutely unimaginable and impossible. I cannot even imagine a person who could have assumed such a responsibility and entered into the discussion of such an issue. We are talking about the fact that according to some people, concrete decisions made by the country's independent institutions on specific cases can define the political process and become the subject of a political agreement. I believe that this is categorically unacceptable and I cannot think of any person on my team who would have participated in such discussions. This is my absolutely sincere position. Thus, I believe that the electoral system is the greatest achievement of our country, our political team, and the political spectrum; questioning it for any reason is unacceptable to me personally. As regards questioning the country's institutions, this is completely incomprehensible to me. The country's independent institutions have made a decision on specific criminal cases; it does not matter if these decisions are positive or negative - these decisions have come into force. The fact that now, after the fact, someone states that the release or non-release of these people was the subject of a political agreement and that the violation of this agreement can impact the political process - this is simply impossible and I am calling on everyone who is making such irresponsible statements to contemplate what they are saying and how they are saying it," Giorgi Gakharia noted.