Georgian general and member of ruling party does not want to take part in parliament

General Chachibaia and parliament

Lieutenant General of the Georgian Armed Forces and a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Vladimir Chachibaia, who was one of the few not to support the withdrawn law on “foreign agents”, intends to end his work in parliament.

In an interview with Formula TV program Droeba, Chachibaya said that this was his “persistent desire.”

“I think I was not ready for parliamentary life. You know, I served in the army for 30 years. My personal desire is to leave parliament. But at the same time, I remain a loyal member of our party. I think that I have realized myself in the state or any other service better than as a member of parliament.

I think the decision I made does not give me the right to remain in parliament, I mean that I did not vote for the bill [on foreign agents],” Chachibaia said.

According to his own explanation, he has already communicated with other members of the party, although this issue “requires additional consideration” and, probably, final decision will be made in the future.

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Four deputies from the ruling party did not participate in the voting on the so-called “Russian bill”: Ketevan Dumbadze, Vladimir Chachibaia, Irakli Medzmariashvili and David Sergeenko.

Later, Dumbadze and Medzmariashvili explained that there had been a technical error and that they actually supported the bill, while Sergeenko stated that he did not go into the details of the bill. At the same time, the majority in society, the United States and the European Union reacted sharply negatively to the law “on foreign agents”.

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On March 7, 2023, the draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” was adopted by the Georgian Parliament in the first reading by 76 votes against 13.

Then, according to the procedure, both bills were sent to the Venice Commission.

The whole process was accompanied by rallies on the central Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. After the adoption of the bill in the first reading, the protest became many thousands. Authorities twice dispersed tens of thousands of people with tear gas and water cannons.

All organizations and politicians, both in Georgia and abroad, call this bill a Russian model and say that its adoption will be a huge obstacle for the country on its way to the European Union.

On March 9, the ruling party said it was withdrawing the bill. On March 10, during the second reading in Parliament, the majority voted to reject it. This time 35 deputies voted against, while one supported.