It is a direct blackmail against the National Bank to adopt the kind of regulations that the President deems necessary, Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili told reporters.

According to him, Salome Zurabishvili threatened the National Bank that if the Acting President of the National Bank, Natia Turnava, did not adjust the regulation to the wishes of the President of Georgia, she would make the Board of the National Bank ineffective.

"Unfortunately, what we have seen from the President and her administration regarding the National Bank shows once again how much disrespect the President and her administration have for the Georgian people and the rules. First of all, yesterday and today we saw pressure on the President of the National Bank, including the President calling for the President of the National Bank to resign. We saw that the representative of the President's Administration said that the President would not present the candidates to the Parliament until the adoption of certain regulations of the National Bank. This is direct blackmail against the National Bank to adopt the kind of regulations as the President deems necessary. What we heard was a threat that the President would make the National Bank non-functional. In the conditions when 3 members of the Board of the National Bank resigned, there was a danger that the number of members of the Board could fall below the permissible minimum and its functioning would be threatened. The President threatened the National Bank that if the President of the National Bank did not adjust its regulations to the wishes of the President of Georgia, she made the Board of the National Bank ineffective. This is a direct interference in the activities of the body provided for by the constitution, it is direct pressure in the form of blackmail. On the other hand, this once again shows the disrespect of the Georgian President towards the constitution and legislation, which is very serious. This is not simply a disregard of the norms of the constitution, it is a position that says the following, that the President does not consider the rules set by the people to be anything, she sets the rules herself and acts according to her own rules", said Papuashvili.

source: IPN