Parliament overrides presidential veto, approves new constitution
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The parliament of Georgia has overridden the president’s veto on the constitutional amendments and confirmed the country’s new constitution that will come into force following the 2018 presidential elections.
The parliament first voted on the recommendations President Giorgi Margvelashvili gave regarding the constitutional changes. Only eight members of parliament (MPs) voted in favour of the president’s project while 110 went against.
This was followed by a vote on the initial project of the constitution and the amendments were approved with 117 votes in favour and seven against.
At least 113 votes were needed to override the veto at Georgia’s 150-member legislative body.
Parliament spent more than five hours discussing the veto before overriding it this evening.
President Margvelashvili vetoed the constitutional changes on October 9. He said he did not sign the amendments because of six concrete shortcomings and returned the bill back to the parliament with six recommendations. Parliament still approved the initial version of the document.
These are some of the key amendments into the newly adopted constitution:
- Georgia will switch to fully proportional elections in 2024;
- The 2020 parliamentary elections will still be held through the existing mixed proportional and majoritarian system but the election threshold will be lowered to 3 percent from 5 percent for these elections only;
- The president will be elected by a special council starting in 2024;
- In 2018 the president will still be elected directly but for a six and not a five year term.
- Selling agricultural lands to foreign nationals will be prohibited.
- The opposition rights in parliament will be boosted, permitting them to create investigative commissions and others.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has vetoed the constitutional changes that the Parliament adopted on September 26. He returned the bill back to the parliament with six recommendations.
The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) congratulates the Georgian Parliament with adoption of the new Constitution.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has prepared its final opinion over Georgia’s constitutional reforms reiterating its previous positive assessment, "notably that the constitutional reform process completes the evolution of Georgia’s political system towards a parliamentary system”.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and the parliamentary majority have held consultations over the proposed changes to the state constitution today.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says that Georgia’s new constitution is a major step forward on the path of the democratic development of the country.
The parliament of Georgia will most likely pass new a round of constitutional amendments in March of 2018, says Parliamentary Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze.
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has signed the new edition of Constitution that Parliament adopted on September 26. Margvelashvili announced the news at a press briefing a short time ago.
Georgia has never been closer to European standards and to the EU than today, and we continue our hard work to become a full member of the European family, says Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze.
The parliament of Georgia has adopted the remaining changes planned for the state constitution with its first reading, meaning two other readings are still ahead until the final approval of the amendments.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia, Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern, and head of the Council of Europe (CoE) Office in Georgia Christian Urse have welcomed the offer of the ruling Georgian Dream party to introduce a fully proportional election system with a zero per cent threshold by 2020.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said this day was “a historic day” for Georgia, as it marked the adoption of the first constitution on 21 February 1921, and stressed the landmark document of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia was a demonstration that the then Georgian society “was equipped with appropriate values and a very high legal culture”.