Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), a leading party in parliamentary minority group, has launched formal proceedings requesting setting up of an ad hoc parliamentary commission to probe into recording phone conversations, which surfaced in connection with Imedi TV’s fake report.

MP Levan Vepkhvadze of CDM, who is vice-speaker of the parliament, told Civil.Ge on March 24, that the party had already submitted a request in written form to the legislative body’s registry.

The request has yet to be discussed by the parliamentary bureau, which includes senior lawmakers and which sets the legislative body’s weekly agenda.

Endorsement of the proposal is less likely as lawmakers from the ruling party have already spoken out strongly against such initiative saying that there was no need for the probe as there was no doubt that recordings were fabricated by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Asked if he thought that questions on the matter would linger unless no documented confirmation was produced, a senior lawmakers from the ruling party MP Pavle Kublashvili told Civil.Ge last week: “It [Russian involvement] is absolutely clear for the society and I hope that you also have no question marks about it.” 

One of the recordings involves a brief discussion allegedly between Culture Minister Nika Rurua and President Saakashvili about the fake TV report. This recording, in which the man with voice resembling the one of Saakashvili says it was a mistake of Imedi TV not to make a disclaimer caption on the screen, was posted on a mysterious Russian-language website a day after a separate recording of phone conversation between Imedi TV's head and his deputy surfaced on the same website on March 15. This latter conversation indicated that President Saakashvili could have been behind the TV hoax.