Ruling party head pledges lower electoral threshold once country receives EU candidate status

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday pledged that “no later than a month” after receiving the European Union membership candidate status for Georgia in December of this year, the Parliament would approve a lower two percent threshold for parliamentary elections.

Kobakhidze also said the threshold - which would mark a lowering from the current five percent - would be enacted for parties taking part in elections starting with the next, “fully proportional”, vote in 2024.

Kobakhidze said the ruling team, on behalf of its Political Council and the Parliamentary majority, had made a “political commitment” to the European Council and the European Commission over the matter.

We strongly believe that receiving the membership candidate status will help to reduce the degree of polarisation in the country, after which a fully proportional electoral system with a two percent electoral threshold will create an optimal political situation for the country in 2024”, the GD official said.

We are confident that we will defeat the [opposition] United National Movement [party] with its satellites in 2024 even under a two percent electoral threshold, which is a necessary condition for the peaceful, democratic and stable development of our country”, he continued.

Kobakhidze also said a fully proportional electoral system with a five percent threshold was the “most widespread” system in EU countries and “fully complied with best European practices and legal standards”, while a two percent or lower threshold was present only in two EU countries.

Under a five percent threshold, the United National Movement will have no chance of success in the 2024 elections. In case of a two percent threshold, their chance of returning to power increases significantly. [...] Consequently, setting a relatively low threshold can be worth [for the ruling party] only if, in return, we get some very important benefits for the country. Such a benefit, in this case, can only be one thing - receiving the EU candidate status that will significantly reduce polarisation in Georgia”, he concluded in his comments.