PACE monitors: Georgian ruling party, opposition election agreement is a ‘window of opportunity’
Co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have urged all parties to fulfill the agreement. Photo: CoE.
Tweet 
Share
Co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for the monitoring of Georgia, Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern, have stated that the March 8 election agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition ‘offers a window of opportunity for Georgia’s democratic consolidation.’
They welcomed the ‘constructive spirit’ in which the constitutional amendments to implement the agreement on the election system, ‘including with regard to the sensitive issue of the election districts, ’were agreed upon ‘between all stakeholders’.
They expressed hope that the ‘new spirit of engagement and co-operation’ would continue to exist during the organisation and conduct of the 2020 parliamentary elections.
As we stated last week, this agreement can help to reduce the chronic tensions and polarisation in the political environment, which has been affecting the democratic process in Georgia. We call upon all political players to maintain this momentum and to demonstrate the same political will and maturity to find agreement on the other issues that divide them,” they said in an official statement released yesterday.
PACE monitors Titus Corlăţean and Claude Kern, after positive #Tbilisi visit: #Georgia has “a window of opportunity“ https://t.co/QnWp6GZmm7 pic.twitter.com/PHDifRZiqC
— PACE (@PACE_News) March 17, 2020
They called on all partners to refrain from any action that could complicate or raise doubts about their commitment to the implementation of this pledge and to ensure the proper representation of female candidates both in the proportional and majoritarian components of the forthcoming elections.
The rapporteurs welcomed the adoption of the fourth wave of judicial reforms and expressed their hope that they would be implemented ‘promptly and coherently’.
They also welcomed the decision of the ruling majority not to appoint any additional judges to the Supreme Court during the current parliamentary session.
The rapporteurs urged the government to follow ‘all remaining Venice Commission recommendations’, in particular ‘with regard to abolishing secret voting, and introducing reasoned decisions and uniform and transparent selection criteria, in order to ensure a genuinely merit-based appointment process [in the court]’.
The delegation of the Council of Europe (CoE), which met with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia earlier today, has welcomed the recent agreement between the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the opposition on how to hold the 2020 parliamentary elections, the government of Georgia press office reports.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that it is fulfilling all the conditions of the election agreement made with the opposition last week with the mediation of the diplomatic corps, responding to allegations of the opposition regarding the release of imprisoned opposition leaders and members.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has denied to participate in parliament's work despite the recent election deal with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party last week, stating that not all conditions of the agreement have been fulfilled.
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.
Twenty-six opposition parties and one independent MP have released a joint statement earlier today in which they urged the country’s foreign partners ‘to remind’ the ruling Georgian Dream party ‘how important it is to fully fulfil the March 8 election agreements’ with the opposition.
The Georgian parliament will renew the election system-related discussions as soon as the state of emergency has ended, Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze stated earlier today.
Voters at the upcoming parliamentary elections in October will be required to observe two-meter social distancing regulations, and all individuals entering polling stations will be thermo screened, Georgian Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze told IPN news agency today.
Special police groups will be created in Georgian regions to ensure the October 31 parliamentary elections be held in a free and safe environment, a new decree signed by Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri says.
PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Georgia Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern have expressed their regret yesterday that the Georgian parliament ‘did not wait’ for the Venice Commission’s opinion before the adoption of the amendments for the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) welcomes the political agreement of March 2020 between the Georgian politicians ‘on a more proportional election system’ the Assembly said it aimed to ensure ‘a more pluralist and representative composition of the parliament’. However, it notes that ‘despite this agreement on the election system the political climate in Georgia remained polarised and contentious’.