The Plenary Session commenced with the political statements. According to the Speaker, H.E. Kakha Kutchava, as this Tuesday was a day off, under the Rules of Procedure, he has decided to start today’s Session with the political statements. The Speaker also echoed to a remarkable date in the history of Georgian sport - May 13, 1981, when 40 years ago Tbilisi "Dinamo" achieved the greatest success - "I cannot fail to celebrate today and the great victory, which our country achieved 40 years ago. May 13 is a certainly delightful day and I hope that the victories we have in other sports - rugby, tennis, etc., will repeat the great results”. Almost all the speakers responded to the victory of Tbilisi "Dinamo". In addition, the statements focused on the political, economic, and epidemiological situation in the country. Alexander Elisashvili, the Citizens party: "One of the most painful issues concerns the fuel price which has exceeded 3GEL. Dear Georgian Dream, we all know that you are consuming the fuel at the state's expense, but maybe you should be kind and lower the excise tax and reduce the appetite of oil importers, thus slightly reducing the prices that have touched the fresh records recently. Understandably, the business should be profit-oriented, but skyrocketed interests may come down a bit as ordinary people fail to bear it anymore. There is an urgency of immediate actions to be performed in this regard." A. Elisashvili also dwelt on the issue of enrollment in kindergartens and schools and said that the problem in this regard has been going on for years and called on the authorities to resolve the issue properly. Levan Ioseliani, Vice-Speaker of the Parliament, Citizens' Party: “I would like to express my opinion regarding a two-day working meeting held in Kachreti, where members of the newly joined opposition and representatives of the ruling party sat down and discussed amendments to the Electoral Code. It is excellent news that without intermediaries and ambassadors, we finally sat face to face with people we had not talked to for months. At the meeting, without any emotions, we debated issues that are really fundamental for our country. I want to thank all the working group members because it befell for the first time when we moved away from our personal emotional attitudes - we talked and agreed on important issues for the country. The meeting of the working group will recommence, and I hope that in the end, we will reach the type of document that will be sustained by both the opposition and the ruling party”. Mikheil Kavelashvili, Chairman of the Sports and Youth Issues Committee: “I will touch upon the date of 13, 1981, when "Dinamo" Tbilisi achieved great success. This is probably the most striking date in the history of our sport. It was the day of the greatest victory and the unifying day of our country, our homeland. These are the people who have achieved such a great result, which has united the whole country. Such days are tenuous in the history of our country and should be exemplary. We can courageously say that we imitate the athletes whose work is so important that we should respect and acknowledge them. I also would like to honor those who have passed away - almost the entire coaching staff is no longer with us today. These people are an undeniable example of how we can come together and work together so that such victories are frequent for our country”. Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee: "Yesterday's decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is unprecedented since very explicit and unambiguous records have already been made about how Russia exercises effective control over the Tskhinvali region and the territory of Abkhazia, as well as the criminal acts committed by the Russian Federation in the occupied territories. According to him, this is a response to the January 21 ruling of the Strasbourg court, where it was also very clearly stated that Russia has been exercising effective control over Tskhinvali and Abkhazia since August 12 – “The document condemns Russia's attempts to erase traces of Georgian culture, as well as the burning of homes of ethnic Georgians, the ban on Georgian students receiving secondary education in Georgian, etc.”. N. Samkharadze also dwelt on the visit of the parliamentary majority’s visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, which took place last week: “We had meetings in the Bundestag, as well as in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chancellery. In the Bundestag, we met with leaders of foreign relations of all political parties. All political parties that have a chance to form a coalition government in the September Elections are unconditional supporters of Georgia's integration into both NATO and the European Union. Representatives of almost all parties agreed that new mechanisms and tools are needed to bring Georgia closer to the EU at an even faster pace. The Germans feel very well that Georgia needs a security umbrella. They pledged to raise these issues at the next NATO summit”. Badri Japaridze, Chairman of the faction Lelo - Partnership for Georgia: "The purpose of creating the faction is to make our work more efficient in the Parliament. Therefore, we believe that the creation of the first opposition faction is an important process. We hope that our efforts will allow us to make parliamentary decisions closer to the country's needs. Given the country's data, and these are the most acute problems of the economy, we have a vision of what should be done immediately in this direction so that the economy can slowly start to get out of the stalemate. Unfortunately, the vaccination problems that have accumulated in Georgia are unresolved, and it is clear that in its time, investing in vaccination would have saved us from the huge losses that the economy has suffered. The main priority of Lelo-Partnership for Georgia is for our country to join the Euro-Atlantic structures as soon as possible”. Shalva Papuashvili, Chairman of the Education and Science Committee: “At the meeting on election issues, the desire of all participants to have a business dialogue was evident. It was the first such extended meeting with the opposition, and it showed the desire of all participants to have a business dialogue and discussion. One point is important - we must fulfill the April 19 agreement as soon as possible. I hope we will maintain the mood present at May 10-11 meetings, and we will have the Parliament exercising the will of the citizens. Unfortunately, three opposition parties still refuse to join the legislative work. They have two choices: either admit that their destructive agenda has been defeated, or sign the April 19 Agreement and enter the Parliament”. Dimitri Khundadze, Chairman of the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee: "Yesterday was an important date - May 12 - this is the International Nurses' Day. I think their role is immense, especially in today's world of pandemics. A good nurse helps to increase the effectiveness of the doctor's work, and I would like to thank them for their work and wish progress and success in their professional work. Unfortunately, I still have to remind you that the whole world is living in a pandemic mode, and there are still some tensions in this regard, especially amid the third wave mode. The general epidemic situation in the world is unfavorable. Especially in India, the situation is quite dire. The epidemic is also quite severe in the countries of the South American continent. The situation in Europe is moving towards stability, the dynamics are positive, but of course, there are epidemiological hardships. As for Georgia, we are in peak mode. Cases of new infections indicate that we want attention and more adherence to the rules, which epidemiologists and specialists in the field repeatedly remind. For a country that has demographic problems, one lost life is too much. Due to lack of time, of course, I cannot touch on all issues, but I would like to urge the public as much as possible to follow the rules. The usage rate of face-mask is over 75%. This is very good, but if we increase this figure to 90%, the country's proportion of infection will decrease significantly, which is very important. The vaccination process is very active. Society should realize that vaccination is the only way out of this difficult situation. 20% of the population thinks they can cope with this situation without a vaccine, but I'm afraid that's not right. It's dangerous, and taking care of each citizen's own health is the equivalent of taking care of public health, so vaccination, vaccination, and vaccination again”. Irakli Kadagishvili, Chairman of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee: "We called on my former party members to be more precise in their statements because the Georgian Dream is not in agony. We are updating the programs that were unfortunately suspended due to the pandemic. Naturally, the Georgian Dream has an absolutely legitimate, legal, and constitutional right to carry out the quite active processes in the period before the pandemic. Of course, every political party or newly formed group is trying to establish its place in the political space, and nothing is surprising here, but I still think that the current situation should be realistically estimated”. Irakli Zarkua, Deputy Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee: "I would like to remind the opposition that a total of more than 5 bln GEL is provided in the budget for VAT and excise, and we have invested this amount in the 2021 budget for social security and healthcare. With excise and VAT, we solve many problems for our population. As for taxes, Georgia is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of light taxation. Among them, we have abolished the profit tax altogether if reinvested". Paata Manjgaladze, Strategy Aghmashenebeli: "Our current status as an MP guarantees us all together to do everything possible to address this political agenda, which is focused on controversy, quarrels, to solve the problems that concern our society. And most importantly, bring people back into the decision-making process”. Salome Samadashvili, Deputy Chair of the Lelo - Partnership for Georgia: "Georgian Dream has been saying for many years that the declared course of the country is the EU and NATO. I know that NATO has started discussing a membership plan for Ukraine, but no one talks about Georgia. We are going to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs and find out what is being done in this regard”. Armaz Akhvlediani, member of the Lelo - Partnership for Georgia: "When we are in the legislature, we must remember that our main duty is to uphold the law. We seem to be unable to do so. Without democracy, we cannot resolve this issue. If it is a legislature, why do we not question the reason for such unbridled lawlessness in the country today? I appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service - do you know where is one of the most special places? - In Guria. This is Bakhmaro and Gomi mountain. Do you know why I am telling you this? - To see what corruption looks like and what a bad situation a person is always unjustly oppressed. Hundreds of lands have been seized by citizens. Local authorities or state bodies have not responded. I have a reasonable doubt to say that the government has made a deal with these people”. Ana Natsvlishvili, member of the Lelo - Partnership for Georgia faction: „For several weeks now, individuals have been taking over the duties of the state at the Ninotsminda Children's Boarding School. They do not allow the constitutional body, the Public Defender, to enter and examine the condition of the children. This is not only an unacceptable act but also a perilous precedent from a state point of view. According to her, "for the second year, we are living in a war with an invisible virus, and the Parliament is living in a normal mode as if nothing is happening. It is inconceivable that the legislature, which is the main policy-making body of the country, fails to consider that the government has seized all the power to establish order during the pandemic”. Giorgi Khojevanishvili, Member of Parliament: “The NATO summit will be held in Brussels in exactly one month, and there are several important environments and questions around this summit. Black Sea security is becoming even more important for the new US administration and NATO. In the context of the Black Sea, only Ukraine is at the center of the discussion. I wonder about the reasons. The question arises - is it due to our passivity and lack of a specific plan? It is necessary to be active before the summit and raise the issue of Georgia together with Ukraine? This process does not only depend on NATO and requires our active efforts. We need specific visions, tasks, and plans for the summit”. Beka Liluashvili, Member of Parliament: “During the last two days, the public has clearly seen that in several regions, specific facts of political harassment are taking place at the same time. The public has seen how it is done openly and publicly. It is vivid how these people are harassed, politically harassed, and fired with the old-fashioned, former government’s style. It is miserable and disappointing for our citizens that the government using such methods is more like its predecessor”. Iago Khvichia, Member of Parliament: “The main task of X Term Parliament, in my opinion, is to return the hope that something will change in this country. Let us start giving this hope by removing this senseless and inhuman restriction - the curfew. I guess we have forgotten the main issue that happens in the streets. In my opinion, the country has changed a lot in recent years; everything is becoming very ugly and gray, people are seemingly unhappy, and there is no hope that anything will change. In fact, the process of impoverishing people is going on in front of us every day, and we have declared a restriction for our population. I want to get out of these shackles”. Kakhi Kakhishvili, Member of Parliament, Single-mandate MP of Isani District: “A few weeks ago, we asked you to talk in the majority format with the head of the executive branch about the creation of a council, which will be in direct contact with the single-mandate MPs. There is more responsibility on the single-mandate MPs. More than two weeks have passed since we raised this issue, and unfortunately, no progress has been made to date. I want to ask you again, Mr. Speaker of the Parliament, maybe we should arrange a meeting in time so that the MPs can communicate with specific representatives of the executive branch”. Davit Zilfimiani, Member of the Parliament: "I appeal to the position to make a decision, if we do not give oxygen to the service sector, the situation will become much worse. The health care has worked well, and the situation is no longer deplorable; the vaccination rate has increased, we have agreed not to delay the season. Now let’s ask the Parliament together to lift the curfew; we cannot continue this way any longer”. Mamuka Mdinaradze, Chairman of the Georgian Dream Faction: "First of all, I would like to congratulate our Muslim compatriots, our sisters, and brothers on Ramadan Bayram. I would also like to congratulate our colleagues who accomplished forming a faction in the Parliament and wish them productive work in the legislature. Thanks to our legendary players who gained such a great victory 40 years ago, we are still talking about it today. I would also like to congratulate our opponents that today they found the strength in themselves to recognize the legitimacy of the elections for the first time. I agree with Mr. Iago that we have had a lot of political quarrels here. So, let’s talk about the main issues. The principal goal of this country is to become a member of the European Union and NATO. This is an unalterable intention, which implies better living conditions for each person and a higher quality of democracy. On the way so far, improved living conditions and raising the quality of democracy are the main concern. Georgia should become a full-fledged member of the European family. Without compromise, this achievement is unlikely. In general, despite all the arguments and disagreements, joining the European family will be the most positive page in the history of Georgia. There are forces in this country that even link it to the decline of national values. This is explicit Russian propaganda. The reality is, on the contrary, we all understand that membership in the European family is the strongest guarantee of the preservation and survival of our national identity”. According to M. Mdinaradze, “Of course, the Government may have made mistakes and, of course, there are shortcomings, and it is impossible for anyone to think that everything is fine in this country. Appealing to disinformation and protesting against fabricated stories cannot solve real problems. It was also unfortunate that disinformation and sabotage were the main tools of the radical opposition in the most acute period, which caused considerable damage to this country. They forget the main thing; in my opinion, they forget that the Georgian people are wiser than many can imagine. Overall, they (Georgian people) are based on facts, not artificially made promises. They value and follow the real goals and see where the truth is. Therefore, we are sure that we will receive the support that will better estimate what has been happening in our country lately”. Following the political statements, the Parliament continued its legislative activity. Givi Mikanadze, Chairman of the Fact-Finding Commission into the Parliamentary Elections of October 31, 2020, introduced the report. Since the 3-month validity term of the Commission is through May 17, the Parliament ruled to extend the term of the Commission for one month. 75 to 2 MPs approved the extension of the mandate of the Commission. The Parliament also voted on the draft Resolution on the Activities of the State Security Service of Georgia for 2020.