In Georgia, Parliament starts considering amendments to Constitution

The Legal Committee of the Georgian Parliament has begun considering the draft amendments to the Constitution, relating to restrictions on the president's power to personally appoint the cabinet in case of dissolution of parliament.

Initially the amendments assumed to allow the president to dissolve the parliament at any time; however, to deprive him of the power to dismiss the government without the consent of the parliament. Besides, under the amendments, if the parliament expresses three times its distrust in the new government, then, the earlier cabinet will be preserved headed by the premier who had been forced to resign, the "News-Georgia" reports.

After consultation with representatives of Georgian NGOs, the bill proponents made a number of refinements to the proposed amendments. In particular, they rejected the president's power to dissolve the parliament at any time. Besides, the bill now clarifies that the president under no circumstances can appoint the government alone, the "Georgia-Online" reports quoting Vakhtang Khmaladze, the Chairman of the above Committee.

To come into force, the amendments should be supported by two thirds of the MPs.