MPs Elected by Majority System Do Not Feel Responsibile to Their Voters

According to the initial information, the Parliamentary Elections of 2008 will be held in May. Nino Burdjanadze, chairwoman of the Georgian Parliament, stated that the list of MPs will be transformed and representatives of the society will be more professional. Currently Kakheti region has twelve representatives in the Georgian Parliament but in the future there might be only one MP from the region.

Voters complain about MPs, particularly those who were elected by majority system. People cannot recollect any concrete case when MPs got interested in important problem of the region and made statement in the parliament in favor of people.

Ethnic Hers, residing in the village of Samtatskaro in Dedoflistskaro District, have been urging the government to open the linking bridge between Georgia and Azerbaijan for two years already. Local people could visit their relatives in Saingilo (a territory in Azerbaijan mostly inhabited by ethnic Georgians) by that bridge. The riot policemen closed the bridge on December 31 2005. Despite many petitions, Laert Zubadalashvili, an MP from the Dedoflistskaro District, did not react on the request of local people. He avoided meeting with Hers when they arrived at the Parliament.

“I remember in 2003 before Parliamentary Elections they were visiting families and urging to vote for Zubadalashvili. They promised to meet us once in two weeks and listen to our problems. They should have representatives who will work with local people. Since that time we met the MP only once in the district when public official was to be appointed or before the president’s visit in the district. His representative office is very weak too. We cannot remember any problem resolved by them or any project prepared by them to support people,” said Tamar Elikashvili, a Telavi resident.

Nana Devidze, regional Coordinator of the non-governmental organization “Fair Elections”, explained that according to the law, an MP should report to the voters on implemented work at least once in six months. “We can say that none of the MPs from Kakheti region feels responsible to their voters. As a rule, they should report on their implemented activities to the people once in six months. For example, what kind of initiative they have offered to the Parliament, what draft laws they have supported and rejected. The population should know person who represents their district in the legislative body, and what are his/her concrete activities. In fact, the voters do not have nay information about them,” said Nana Devidze who added that similar situation is about the MPs from every district.

As for MPs, elected by proportional system, Tinatin Phkhovelishvili, the head of the “Center for Lawyer’s Development”, stated that in many districts MPs are heads of the local organizations of the leading party and local HR policy is run by them. “Consequently, like MPs elected by majority system, people complain about the MPs elected by proportional system because high-ranking officials are appointed by these people. Those public officials breach the human rights. For example, Nugzar Abulashvili who is the head of the Sighnaghi office of the National Movement and he is de-facto governor of the district. His name is connected with the blatant violations, leasing out agricultural plots, dispersal of journalists in 2005 in the village of Anaga, etc. Several valid complaints were filed to the Prosecutor’s Office but Abulashvili still manipulates with his friendship with president Saakashvili. Similar situation increases the discontent of the population,” said Tinatin Pkhovelishvili.

At the moment 4 MPs out of total 8 were elected from the list of National Movement. MPs elected by majority system are: Nikoloz Kvezereli from Gurjaani. He is a member of the parliamentary fraction “Chveni Sakartvelo”. After elections Kvezereli has never met voters in Gurjaani. Tamaz Khidesheli is from Telavi. He is the head of the Environmental Committee of the Parliament. During the last four years he officially visited Telavi only three times. Initially he opposed Gocha Mamatsashvili, interim district governor, and organized protest demonstrations against him. For the second time law enforcers arrested entrepreneur Luka Ramazashvili, a close friend of him and Khidesheli’s final visit was in summer of 2007 when President Saakashvili visited Telavi. At the last meeting Khidesheli stated that he wished to elect Saakashvili as a president for twenty years; Nana Patarkatsishvili represents Kvareli district in the parliament. Voters have not met her since the elections either. She officially visited Kvareli only once when she opened the Gremi Monastery Complex reconstructed by the fund of her brother, Badri Patarkatsishvili. Lasha Natsvlishvili, is from Lagodekhi. Like Patarkatsishvili, he visited Lagodekhi only once and reported to the people about his implemented work on local TV. Tengiz Okrotsvaridze is from Sagarejo. After being elected as an MP Sagarejo population has not seen him at all. The MP’s reason for not visiting the district is lack of office in the district administrative building. Laert Zubadalashvili is from Dedoflistskaro. Local people claim that the MP visited the district only once when Prime-Minister Zurab Noghaideli arrived in Dedoflistskaro. Nugzar Shoshiashvili is an MP from Sighnaghi. Representatives of his bureau work in the district instead of the MP. Pavle Tsamikidze, is an MP from Akhmeta who rarely visits the district and manages only HR there.

MPs elected in the legislative body from the National Movement are: Ioseb Kardenakhishvili, Guram Kakalashvili, Nugzar Abulashvili and Marika Verulashvili. The latter is also a spokesperson of the Georgian President. During her four-year-long activities in the parliament Verulashvili has not offered any initiatives to the legislative body; however, during over-phone conversations above-mentioned people do not deny that they are members of the parliament.

Nevertheless, several days ago, the Chairperson of the Parliament stated that there will be many familiar but many unknown people on the list of MP candidates. Burdjanadze stated that current parliament implemented only 20 % of their responsibilities. “We must set up professional parliament,” said Burjanadze who added that concrete duties must be implemented in the parliament.

Based on Burjanadze’s statement experts suppose that only one out of twelve MPs from Kakheti region has a chance to get into the legislative body again and it is Marika Verulashvili. The reason for her chance is her close relationship with the president.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti