Law enforcers take parliament yard as opposition plans rally today
The opposition says that demonstrators will not allow MPs to attend the parliament’s plenary session on November 26. Photo: IPN.
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Law enforcers and emergency brigades are present at parliament in central Tbilisi, as last week the opposition announced “a large-scale rally and the blocking of the work of parliament” on November 25 and 26.
The leader of the European Georgia opposition party David Bakradze says that rallies will continue until the current state leadership “takes genuine steps to ease the current tension,” stirred after the rejection of the ruling Georgian Dream party proposed election bill on November 14.
The rallies will be peaceful and if the government decides to disperse demonstrators again, we will not go into conflict with police,” Bakradze said.
The opposition is now demanding 2020 parliamentary elections to be conducted along the German electoral model and by an interim government.
What is the German electoral model?
The German electoral model is a mixed electoral system. However, unlike the current mixed electoral system in Georgia in which 73 MPs are elected in single-mandate constituencies and remaining 77 based on proportional, party-list system, the German model allows parties to have as many MPs in parliament as many votes they receive in the proportional race.
For instance, in the 2016 parliamentary elections the ruling Georgian Dream party received 48 per cent of votes and if the country had a German electoral system the party would have had 72 MPs in the 150-member parliament. However, as Georgia had a different electoral model the party received 115 seats (71 were majoritarian MPs).
Rallies in Tbilisi were re-sparked after the rejection of an election bill on November 14. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The opposition says that introducing the German model for the 2020 elections only calls for changes to the election code and not in the state constitution and the support of at least 76 MPs instead of 113 [as constitutional amendments require].
Developments behind protests
The ruling party accepted the transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 2020 instead of 2024 [as the current state constitution reads] in the summer, during June protests in Tbilisi.
However, the ruling party majoritarian MPs refused to vote for the bill proposed by their own party on November 14 that is why the bill was rejected, sparking protests in Tbilisi.
The ruling party says as the bill was rejected the country will move to fully proportional elections from 2024.
On November 18 police dispersed a rally in front of parliament building as demonstrators blocked the entrances of the legislative bodies and did not allow MPs in.
Six have been detained for hooliganism and disobedience to police while protesting in front of the headquarters of the Georgian State Security Service earlier today. Demonstrators at the State Security Service building demanded a meeting with the head of the state agency Grigol Liluashvili “to ask him why police are detaining demonstrators in Tbilisi.”
Georgian Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani says that Georgia needs a mixed electoral system, “with MPs elected through the majoritarian race and based on party lists, including a reasonable election threshold.”
Demonstrators who have been protesting the rejection of the election bill since November 14 have gathered in front of the administration building of the government of Georgia in central Tbilisi earlier today, demanding snap parliamentary elections with the use of a fully proportional electoral system, conducted by an interim government.Protests in Tbilisi were sparked after the ruling Georgian Dream party proposed election bill last week was scrapped.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party proposed bill on holding of 2020 parliamentary elections with a fully proportional voting system and a zero threshold has been scrapped as 101 MPs instead of mandatory 113 voted for it. 141 of total 150 MPs have been registered for the vote earlier today. However, 37 abstained from voting and three voted against.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has responded again to ongoing electoral turmoil and stated that 2020 parliamentary elections will be conducted in a mixed electoral system and the “topic is closed.” However, the party said that it will not nominate its candidates in particular majoritarian districts in the 2020 parliamentary elections and will allow opposition candidates to win the race.
Representatives of opposition parties and civic activists have resumed demonstrations in downtown Tbilisi aimed to re-block the parliament of Georgia and prevent legislators enter the building tomorrow.
Police have dispersed a rally near the parliament building at 5 a.m. earlier today. 28 individuals have been detained while three others have received injuries, the Georgian Interior Ministry reports. Law enforcers used water cannons to open the entrances of the legislative body which were blocked by the opposition and demonstrators protesting the rejection of an election reform bill on November 14.
The BBC, Washington Post and Deutsche Welle have released news on the ongoing Tbilisi protests which were sparked after the rejection of the election reform bill on November 14.BBC has cited campaigners as saying that the current, mixed-electoral system in Georgia favours the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012.
The Georgian parliament has approved candidates for top parliamentary posts earlier today after several MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) quit the party due to the rejection of the GD-proposed election reform bill on November 14. GD MP Gia Volski has been approved as the first vice-speaker of parliament, while fellow MPs of the same party Mamuka Mdinaradze and Giorgi Kakhiani as deputy chairs of parliament.
Several opposition MPs from the European Georgia party have submitted statements regarding their exit from parliamentary committees amid protests in Tbilisi sparked by the rejection of the election bill on November 14.
The opposition and civil activists , who have been protesting for two weeks due to parliament’s rejection of the ruling party’s proposed election bill, have announced a 'large rally' at parliament when MPs will be scheduled to vote on a 20-person list of candidates for judge in the Georgian Supreme Court. The opposition, which strongly disapproves of the list, vows the rally will lead to the fulfilment of the demonstrators’ demands.
About 30 opposition parties, including the parliamentary opposition, have presented an ‘adapted version’ of the German electoral model for Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections amid protests in Tbilisi sparked by the rejection of the ruling party proposed bill which offered an early transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 2020 instead of 2024.
“All against one” is the slogan under which the opposition will start marching on Rustaveli Street in Kutaisi and finish with a rally at Kutaisi City Hall on December 6.