14:00, 23 March 2013

Draft amendments to Constitution of Georgia passed second reading

The Georgian parliament has adopted in the second reading the draft constitutional amendments, aimed at partially restricting the presidential powers. Georgian political analysts believe that in the case of the final adoption of the amendments the power to dismiss the government and dissolve the parliament will be beyond Saakashvili's powers.

At the session of the parliament on March 22, the amendments to the Constitution were supported by 123 MPs. The voting in the final third reading is scheduled for the next week, the "News-Georgia" reports.

Should the draft be adopted in the third reading, it will be in force until the entry into force after the next presidential election in October 2013 of the new wording of the Constitution, which stipulates reduction of the presidential powers and increase of the government's ones. The MPs from the "Georgian Dream" claim that the amendments to the law are a necessary measure not to provoke a political crisis in the country.

Author: Inna Kukudzhanova

Source: CK correspondent