Lelo for Georgia opposition party leader Mamuka Khazaradze says that repeat elections in Georgia are possible in 2022, and not next year as opposition parties are demanding.
I am sure that the election talks mediated by the diplomatic corps between the ruling party and the opposition will be completed successfully and repeat elections will be scheduled. I do not believe that the elections will be scheduled for next year… The outcome from the situation is changing the country’s election code and environment and we (opposition parties) are very close to agreeing on the issues (with the ruling party),” Khazaradze has told TV channel Mtavari Arkhi.
Khazaradze said that he would welcome the conduct of repeat elections in 2022 with a fully proportional electoral system and a low election threshold; per the constitution, the next parliamentary elections in Georgia, scheduled for 2024, must be held according to a fully proportional electoral system with a five per cent election threshold.
Lelo for Georgia received four seats in the 150-member-parliament. However, its MPs refuse to take up their mandates. Photo: Lelo for Georgia press office.
All eight opposition parties which were voted in on the October 31 parliamentary elections say that the ruling party fabricated the elections and are demanding repeat elections.
Most of the opposition MPs say that they will not take up their mandates.
Foreign ambassadors are now mediating talks between the ruling party and the opposition to help them end the political crisis.
The ruling party says that the elections were conducted in line with democratic standards and that no repeat elections will take place.
The party also says that NGO ISFED’s recent admission to a mistake in its parallel vote count data has proven that no fabrication took place.