Opposition says ruling party’s offer on elections 'absolutely unacceptable’

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 offer is absolutely unacceptable and not serious,” leader of the United National Movement Grigol Vashadze has stated. 

Leader of the European Georgia opposition party Gigi Ugulava has advised the ruling party “to go home, do better exercise and bring something reasonable to discuss.” 

The acting US and the EU ambassadors to Georgia, Elisabeth Rood and Carl Hartzell have stated that it is good the ruling party has made a new offer, but said the offer has not been accepted by the opposition. 

However, the ambassadors stated that the ruling party and the opposition are likely to continue the dialogue on election issues and the following meeting will allegedly take place in January 2020. 

The ruling party and the opposition have met several times since the rejection of  the election bill on an early transition to a fully proportional electoral system. 

While making the new offer earlier today Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze has stated that the fully proportional electoral system, on which the country is scheduled to move from 2024, “really carries threats of state destabilisation and governmental crisis for the countries like Georgia.” 

He said that the new offer on maintaining a decreased number of majoritarian MPs for the 2020 and following elections, would decrease the threats and would also respond to the recommendations of international partners on favouring the proportional electoral system. 

The meetings between the ruling party and the opposition, mediated by diplomatic corps, aims the parties to reach a consensus on 2020 parliamentary elections after the parliament rejected the ruling party proposed election bill on November 14, on the early transition to a fully proportional electoral system starting 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.