TBILISI, March 31. /TASS/. The ruling Georgian party and the opposition have once again failed to agree on ways to overcome the current political crisis in the country, the European Council's envoy told reporters after the talks.
In early March, President of the European Council Charles Michel appointed Christian Danielsson as his personal envoy to Georgia, who will mediate the dialogue between Georgia’s government and the opposition.
Speaking to reporters after the second round of mediation in Georgia, Danielsson said neither the ruling party nor the opposition were ready to embrace the proposed solutions, that envisage reforms to the country’s electoral sphere and the sphere of justice.
The envoy added that he would inform Michel about the outcome and will wait for further instructions from him.
Danielsson arrived to Tbilisi on March 28. On Monday he met with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, President Salome Zourabichvili and held separate talks with representatives of political parties. This is his second visit to the Georgian capital, after the March 12-19 trip.
The crisis in Georgia broke out more than five month ago. Last November, the opposition refused to recognize the outcome of parliamentary elections and accused the government of tampering with the results. Up until now, the majority of opposition lawmakers refuse to join the new parliament.
The situation deteriorated on February 23, when police arrested Nika Melia, the chairman of the opposition United National Movement party. Five days before that, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned due to disagreements with his colleagues on this issue.
Since February 23, Georgian opposition has been staging rallies to demand Melia’s release.
The criminal case against Melia, who headed the United National Movement in December 2020, was initiated in June 2019. He is accused of organizing and participating in the riots on June 20 and 21, 2019, which ended in an attempt to storm the parliament building. In June 2019, the court released him on bail and ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet, but in November 2020, at a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections, he took it off and threw it away. After that, the prosecutor's office petitioned the court to increase the amount of bail, which Melia refused to pay, claiming political persecution. If the politician is found guilty, he faces up to six years in prison.