Members of Parliament held a meeting with the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the UK Government, Sir Philip Robert Barton and the NDI Georgia Office representatives.

The meeting, dedicated to the deliberation on parliamentary oversight, was as well attended by the Chair of the Education and Science Committee, Givi Mikanadze; the Chair of the Agrarian Committee, Nino Tsilosani; the Chair of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee, Maia Bitadze; and the member of the “Reforms Group”, Teona Akubardia.

“We shared information with the British diplomat about the legal changes that have been realized within the 12-paragraph plan, and introduced the plans of respective Committees and the opposition in terms of the scheduled oversight activities”, - G. Mikanadze stated.

As M. Bitadze noted after the meeting, the UK Government and NDI are key partners to Georgia in terms of the realization of oversight function by various Committees.

“The discussion was very interesting, covering various aspects, including gender equality, parliamentary transparency, environment, defense and security”, - she noted.

As commented by T. Akubardia, Great Britain actively supports the Georgian Parliament in its capacity building.

“I expressed my critical position about the problems when the Ministers refuse to attend the Committees, as well as appear late at the Interpellation; about the problems in terms of the engagement of the opposition in the oversight process etc. The British aid for Georgia upon the enhancement of democracy is paramount”, - she noted.

The meeting was attended by the British Ambassador, H.E. Mark Clayton.