68 non-parliamentary parties request registration for upcoming elections
The parliamentary elections will take place in Georgia at the end of October, 2020. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Sixty-eight political parties, which are not represented in the current parliament, have appealed to the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) for registration for the October parliamentary elections.
The parties which have no MPs in the legislative body had to appeal for registration by July 15, while parties who are represented in parliament are able to appeal for registration no later than 57 days before the election day.
Fourteen of the 68 parties who have already requested registration have been registered, while one was rejected (due to a lack of mandatory documentation).
The CEC is now looking into the applications of the remaining 53 parties.
The 2020 parliamentary elections will be held in a different manner, with 120 seats in parliament distributed based on the party-list electoral system and the remaining 30 per the majoritarian model.
The parties or election blocs will be able to enter parliament if they receive at least one per cent of total votes.
A bill has been registered in parliament per the agreement of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the opposition on March 8.
US Senators Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,and Jeanne Shaheen,a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, have welcomed a recent agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition on how to hold the 2020 parliamentary elections, stating that making the deal will benefit the democratic development of the country.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the united opposition have reached an agreement on holding the upcoming parliamentary elections this October with 120 seats in the legislative body to be distributed via a proportional vote and the remaining 30 via the majoritarian system.
The Georgian parliament has passed the election bill drafted with the mediation of the diplomatic corps in its third and final reading earlier today. 117 MPs voted for and three went against the bill which will institute a more proportional electoral system for this autumn’s parliamentary elections. The United National Movement and European Georgia opposition parties refused to participate in the vote, stating that with the continued incarceration of the co-founder of opposition-minded TV channel Giorgi Rurua, the ruling party ‘did not fully abide by the March 8 election agreement.’
The ruling Georgian Dream party has nominated all 30 of its majoritarian candidates for the upcoming October parliamentary elections, both for the eight constituencies of the capital Tbilisi and the regions. The elections in the autumn will be held in a different manner, with 120 MPs elected per the party-list based electoral system and the remaining 30 per the majoritarian electoral model. Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said that the elections will be held ‘in full line with democratic standards and Georgian Dream will celebrate a victory in a fair fight.’
Tbilisi City Court has allowed the registration of the oldest political party in Georgia-the Republican Party, for the October parliamentary elections after the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) denied the registration for late submission of mandatory documentation.
A total of 66 political parties have registered to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 31. The Central Election Commission also stated that now the registered parties must provide their party lists and majoritarian candidates no later than October 1.