Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The U.S. State Department has welcomed the adoption by Georgia's parliament of the constitutional changes on the restriction of the president's right to dissolve the government and the supreme legislative body, Georgian TV channels reported on Monday.

"The Georgian parliament voted unanimously to approve the amendment that, consistent with international constitutional norms, removes the president's unilateral power to appoint a new government without parliamentary approval," State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement. "The United States congratulates the leadership of Georgia and the parliamentary majority and minority on this important, bipartisan measure. It paves the way for the consolidation of Georgian democracy and renewed focus on the many issues facing the government today."

The statement also says that the U.S. is encouraged by the political consensus underlying this agreement and urges all political actors to maintain a constructive, forward-looking tone in public discourse, in the interest of ensuring further progress for the benefit of Georgia and its citizens.

The Georgian parliament adopted an amendment to the constitution with 114 votes in its final reading on Monday that would strip the president's right to appoint a new government without the parliament's approval.

In accordance with the new amendment, the president reserves the right to dismiss the government, however, the sitting government would have to continue performing its duties before the new cabinet is confirmed by the legislature.

Also, the amendment envisages a restriction that deprives the president of the right to dismiss parliament within six months from the date of the election of the parliament, and within six months before the presidential election.

The only condition of the parliament's dismissal is rejecting three times the approval of the government presented by the president.

Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili said after the vote that with this constitutional amendment the parliament restored its powers, according to the civil.ge website.