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.”
She says that the electoral system ensures stability in the country.
The statement comes amid public protests in Tbilisi after a bill on electoral reform was rejected, which would have allowed for the transition to a fully proportional electoral system from 2020 instead of 2024 [as the current state constitution reads this].
The ruling Georgian Dream party, which proposed the change, accepted the early transition to fully proportional elections during the June rallies in Tbilisi in the summer to calm crowds.
Demonstrators are demanding a fully proportional electoral system for 2020. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Tsulukiani stated that the United National Movement opposition, which is actively participating in the current protests, “is a bankrupt political force, as a political party which starts by roses [the Rose revolution in 2003] and ends with locks [the demonstrators lock the gates of state bodies] is bankrupt.”