“We strive to hold the election of the Public Defender in a transparent and inclusive manner, which is ensured under our plan since this process shall be productive, which means the real election of the Public Defender to prevent this position from remaining vacant for a long time”, - the Chair of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, Mikheil Sarjveladze stated at the briefing.

The regulation introduced by a ruling party is compatible with the international standards established for the election of the PD.

“These principles envisage the pre-establishment of the criterion and this recommendation will be fulfilled according to the said document. The position shall not remain vacant for a long time and in this view, we thoroughly planned the procedures to ensure the decision-making in the established term. Providing that the decision-making requires the approval of 90 MPs, it is not an easily feasible task but after the political consultations, we hope to achieve the goal. Unfortunately, the opposition manifests quite a vast resources for the “political sabotage”, the prevention mechanisms of which have already been pondered by us”.

According to him, a key principle is a transparency and inclusiveness and thus, the civil sector will be engaged in the nomination, assessment and consideration of the candidates. Speaking about inclusiveness, M. Sarjveladze noted that this principle also includes a standard to allow every person convinced in his/her capacity to be elected on this position.

“Providing the significance of these principles, we intend to offer to the society and the opposition a rule of the election as follows: an amendment shall be introduced to the Rules of Procedure establishing the election procedures unlike the applicable regulations to ensure the determination of this issue through the legal acts. We intend to consider the amendment in an expedited manner within the next week”, - he stated and added that the Speaker is to issue a special ordinance to regulate the hereof procedures.

On September 20, the call shall be announced for the start of the submission of the applications to the Parliament. Besides, the Speaker is to set up a working group composed of NGOs, and professional and academic circles to assess the candidates. The assessment shall be accomplished no later than October 13; the assessment and material shall be submitted to the Factions, Political Groups and independent MPs for the selection and nomination of the candidates no later than October 21.

“We need to ensure the diversity of the options, which requires the establishment of a minimal number of candidates. A group of subjects will be eligible to nominate a common candidate. Henceforth, the process will be resumed in the Committee to hear the candidates publicly; the sittings will be open to civil society. After consideration of the candidates, MPs will vote for them at the plenary session”, - he added.

The main task is to ensure the productivity of the process.

“We strive to ensure the productivity of the process, which means the real election of the Public Defender to prevent this position from remaining vacant for a long time, which will be ensured under our plan”.