EU ambassador: It’s likely Georgian political parties built a large consensus on election bill

EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has stated earlier today that ‘it is likely Georgian political parties have built a large consensus on the election bill, in line with the EU-mediated agreement signed by the majority of the parties back in April.' 

Hartzell said that now the EU is waiting for the bill to be sent to the CoE’s Venice Commission for recommendations. 

Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Shalva Papuashvili has stated that the bill will be translated and be sent to the Venice Commission supposedly by the end of the day. 

He stated that the bill is more comprehensive and includes more reforms than was proposed in the EU-mediated agreement.

The bill has been agreed by the parties. Committee hearings around the bill will launch this week,” Papuashvili said. 

He stated that the bill pushes forward three innovations - a face recognition programme, barcoded ballot papers and counting of votes under a high-resolution camera.