Ruling party makes new offer to opposition on 2020 elections
The new offer has been voiced by Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze earlier today. Photo: Archil Talakvadze’s press office.
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The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has made a new offer to the opposition ahead of today’s meeting, stating that they are ready for 100 spots in parliament to be elected via the proportional electoral system and the remaining 50 per the majoritarian system in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
This might not be a one-time change for only 2020 elections, Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has stated, adding that the move to a fully proportional electoral system starting from 2024, as the current Georgian constitution reads, "carries particular threats for the state stability."
It will be the fourth meeting between the ruling party and the opposition today on election issues, mediated by the foreign diplomatic corps, since the parliament rejected the ruling party-proposed election bill on the early transition to fully proportional electoral system from 2020.
The opposition is accusing the government of “deliberately rejecting” the bill and is demanding the 2020 elections to be held per the “adapted German model,” which distributes seats in parliament based on votes received in proportional voting.
Currently Georgia has a mixed electoral system, with 73 MPs elected in single-mandate constituencies [majoritarian elections] and remaining 77 based on proportional, party-list system.
The third meeting between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition over the electoral changes has yielded no results. The opponents met in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi earlier today to discuss the possibility of moving to a multi-mandate system starting in 2020.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has made an agreement with its majoritarian MPs who are proposing a fully majoritarian electoral system and announced constitutional amendments before the 2020 parliamentary elections. The party says that after the amendments take place, there will be no demands for a transition to fully majoritarian elections by its MPs.
About 30 opposition parties, who have offered the transfer to ‘an adapted version of the German electoral model’ for the 2020 parliamentary elections, say they will register the bill in parliament in the coming days and are requesting Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria send the bill to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for evaluations.
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.
Opposition parties have stated that the new offer of the ruling Georgian Dream party on electing 100 MPs via the proportional and remaining 50 via majoritarian voting ‘not only for the 2020 elections,’ is ‘absolutely unacceptable and is another attempt to trick the people.”
The parliamentary opposition has announced that demonstrators will block the parliament building in central Tbilisi in February and the opposition will organise ‘intense protests’ against the current state leadership around the issue of 2020 parliamentary elections. “Let’s see how Ivanishvili [founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili] and the current state leadership will resist the protests,” leader of the European Georgia opposition party Giga Bokeria stated earlier today.
Opposition parties who have been demanding the 2020 parliamentary elections be held on a proportional or similar election system say they have a plan B if the upcoming elections are held per the mixed electoral system.Leader of the European Georgia opposition party Sergi Kapanadze says that that the plan B means nominating joint opposition candidates for the majoritarian race.
Opposition parties have postponed today’s demonstrations on election issues as six individuals, four minors, their mother and a relative, died in a fire in Bagdati municipality of western Georgia late yesterday.“It is a huge tragedy. We need to think about it and mourn,” leader of the European Georgia opposition party Gigi Ugulava stated earlier today, urging the ruling Georgian Dream party to also postpone the opening of the spring session in parliament today.
The OSCE/ODIHR has released its conclusion on the Georgian opposition’s election bill which proposes a proportional electoral system for the 2020 parliamentary elections, saying that it is in the competence of the national courts, and not theirs, to decide whether a bill is in line with the state constitution or not.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has hosted opposition leaders in order to discuss Georgia’s political environment today, reports the US Embassy in Georgia.