The Georgian parliament is confronting two extremes: according to its chair, Nino Burjanadze, if the committees do not shape up their work, soon issues for the plenary session will run out, potentially putting all of parliament in a bad light. Simultaneously, a number of important draft laws might become objects of serious disagreements within the pro-government parliamentary majority.

"Should we cut the salaries of committee chairmen?" deputy speaker Mikheil Machavariani asked Nino Burjanadze after reading a list of the legal "debt" of the parliamentary committees at a recent bureau meeting. The list appears to be quite lengthy. It turns out that the committees are lagging behind schedule on 72 laws.

Burjanadze sided with Machavariani.

"Of two hours of bureau sessions, I spent one calming you down," she chided the MPs in a maternal tone.

The pending storm might climax if MPs clash over a few "explosive" draft laws scheduled to be discussed next plenary session. The most controversial among them is the so-called financial amnesty project, which was not put up for a vote last week simply because a number of influential majority members disagreed and threatened to veto it. Burjanadze plans to carry out "preventive measures" to avoid similar situations. According to her, the document should first be reviewed by the cabinet, then by the Financial-Budgetary Committee of parliament and put to a vote only after reaching a consensus.

Governmental intervention might be necessary over another protracted issue: the law on broadcasting, wherein no agreement has been reached regarding financing for a future public broadcasting station. At the bureau session, the MPs also recalled a decision on examining the financial activities of state television.

The issue of forming a professional election administration scheduled for second hearing is likely to overshadow the two documents. During the first hearing opposition accused the government of usurping power and walked out of the session hall. It is difficult to estimate whether the demarche will continue. However, opposition groups well understand that their absence will not create any procedural problems for the majority in charge of more than 139 spots.

On top of everything else, the chairman of education committee called on colleagues to include the draft Law on Higher Education to the agenda. The document has also sparked criticism.

Burjanadze was cautious on this one: "After the controversy the document sparked in the society, parliament does not have right to make any mistake."

The issue of vanished bank accounts in the early 1990’s brought up by former Saakashvili ally Koba Davitashvili is also pertinent. An ad hoc group of MPs headed by Vasil Maglaperidze has been established to brief parliament as to whether any of its members participated in criminal activities, including stealing bank accounts.

"Regarding those accounts, I talked with president as well. It is important that we tell the people the truth however unpleasant might it be," says Burjanadze.

Reports on the import of useless Indian beef worried the MPs as well. Chairman of the Legal Committee Levan Bezhashvili promised to approach the government on the issue.

"Parliament should adopt strong issues. We should not close our eyes to things like this," he said.

Minister of Energy Nika Gilauri is also expected to answer questions on MPs. "With such a catastrophic situation already in November, can you imagine what can happen in January?" asked Beso Jugeli, chairman of the majority.