Twice Rejected Budget and Impeachment in Gori City Council

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

Opposition members of the Gori City Council state the Council chairman and his deputy stay their interests higher than the city interests. According to the Council members, the twice rejected 2016 budget was to be presented to the City Council on January 14 but the announced session was postponed to February 5. The Council members state it is connected with the requested impeachment of the Council chairman and chairmen of four commissions. The deputies have already lodged applications on declaring the mistrust to the senior officials. According to the procedures, the impeachment issue was to be discussed at the nearest council session.

Tamar Tedliashvili, member of the City Council from Free Democrats: “I am really curious why the government keeps opposing the population even with regard to the budget issue. Canceling of the session is directly connected with the budget discussion and it is huge crime and mistake of the government when they cancel sessions to keep positions.”

Chairman of the city council said they had not scheduled the special session on January 14. Papuna Koberidze said the Council has next session on February 5, where the 2016 budget will be discussed third time. Koberidze said they have already agreed with the Ministry of Finances to spend 1/12 of the budget funds before it is approved. Consequently, he cannot see necessity to schedule special session. 

Papuna Koberidze: “We had not scheduled special session of the bureau for January 5 so it could not be held. We had not scheduled any session for January 14 either. However, upon agreement with the Ministry of Finances, our financial department has already approved the 1/12 of the budget that is 1 233 000 GEL. At this stage the city will not face any financial problems at all.”

Gori City Mayor Zurab Jirkvelishvili commented on the twice rejected budget and said he could not hear concrete arguments from the opponents why they had not supported the bill.

Zurab Jirkvelishvili: “It is politically motivated process that should not be affiliated with the budget at all. Budget is completely different issue because everybody needs it and everybody should work in accordance to it. Adoption of the budget is delayed but we cannot understand the arguments. If they have any, let they say the arguments.”

City Council member from the Georgian Party Ilia Metreveli does not agree with the mayor and states that the council members clearly presented their arguments why they did not vote for the budget.

Ilia Metreveli: “We have public law legal entities which do not produce anything at all and their employees get salaries. We requested to review their work and reduce funding for some of them. That was reason of rejecting the budget.”

After the budget was rejected twice, a commission was composed of the representatives of the City Hall and the City Council members. Council members from opposition parties said they have discussed all issues at the commission meeting and were ready to vote for the budget at the January 14 session though their recommendations were not widely considered in the updated version. At the February 5 session the Council members plan to declare mistrust to 6 officials of the City Council.

Georgian Dream has lost both majority and fraction in the Gori City Council. On January 4, 2016 chairman of the fraction Georgian Dream Ioseb Palelashvili left the political party and the fraction was dismissed.  7 deputies out of 15-member City Council supports impeachment of the Council officials; they lack one vote to declare mistrust. Reportedly Palelishvili is supposed to be the eighth vote. 

Part of the council members lodged a petition at the chancellery of the City Hall with the impeachment request; soon they had to withdraw it because one of their supporters, the Council member Zurab Rosebashvili was in Norway on business trip. Nowadays, he no longer requests resignation of the mayor. However, the Council members still request resignation of the City Council chairman, his deputy and chairmen of 4 commissions including Zurab Rosebashvili and Zaza Mezvrishvili as commission chairmen, who represent opposition parties in the Council.