Opposition ready for 3rd round of talks with ruling party with ‘renewed offers’
Opposition parties say that the major demand on holding repeat elections remains unchanged. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The eight opposition parties and election blocs who overcame the one per cent threshold in the October 31 elections and are now demanding repeat elections say that they are ready to hold a third round of talks with the ruling Georgian Dream party with the mediation of the diplomatic corps.
The parties who say that the elections were fabricated state that their major demand on the repeat elections remain unchanged. However, they say that they have some new offers.
The party leaders refrained from speaking about the new offers, stating that they will provide details after a meeting with the diplomatic corps tomorrow.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the elections were held in line with democratic standards and that repeat elections are not on the agenda.
The party member Kakha Kuchava has neither confirmed or dismissed the reports by media outlets that the ruling party may offer the decrease of election threshold to the opposition for 2024 elections during the third round of talks.
Media outlets report that the ruling party has plans to offer a zero per cent election threshold, while, per the Georgian constitution, the 2024 parliamentary elections should be held per the fully proportional election system, with a five per cent election threshold.
Opposition parties received 60 of 150 seats in parliament in this year's elections. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The October 31 elections were held per the mixed electoral system with 120 seats in parliament disputed per the proportional system, while the remaining 30 seats per the majoritarian electoral system.
This was the first time Georgia held elections in this way.
The ruling party and the opposition agreed on how to hold this year’s elections thanks to the mediation of the diplomatic corps after a long political crisis.
After the elections the opposition parties said that the elections were fabricated by the ruling party, refused to take up their mandates in parliament and took to the street.
Foreign ambassadors are now mediating talks between the ruling party and the opposition to help the end of the political crisis.
The previous two rounds of talks provided no results.
The international community has urged the opposition to enter parliament.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who has cast his vote in the election run-offs earlier today, has stated that the government and the opposition must learn to work together to benefit the country.
The US Department of State has released a long statement by its two senior officials (who have not been identified) earlier today, following the visit of US state Secretary Mike Pompeo to Georgia.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition politicians have held a second round of negotiations at the United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan’s residence earlier today. The parties have agreed not to reveal the details of the meeting.
Members of all nine political parties which entered parliament following the October 31 parliamentary elections have held a first meeting with the mediation of the diplomatic corps earlier today to address the current political crisis in the country. The meeting has been held at the US Embassy in Tbilisi and was attended by US, EU and French ambassadors.
The Central Election Commission convened a session earlier today to summarise the final results of Georgia’s parliamentary elections. Having summed up the election results at today’s session, the CEC will now send the document to the parliament of Georgia, which will hold the first session of the tenth convocation within ten days.