President to take final decision
By Mariam Chanishvili
Tuesday, August 9
The President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, will meet the referendum initiative group members on defining marriage on August 9.
"The president will meet with members of the initiative group. It’s natural that the decision about the referendum will be made by the president according to the Constitution,” stated the head of the Administration of the President, Giorgi Abramishvili.
On July 30, the initiative group behind the referendum proposal presented more than 200,000 citizens’ signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
On July 30, the CEC validated the authenticity of signatures and sent the petition to the President on August 1.
Margvelashvili has 30 days to decide whether to call the referendum or not. If he decides not to call the referendum, he will have to clearly present his reason behind the refusal. In case of a positive decision, his decree will require the co-signature of the Prime Minister.
The initiative group, led by Soso Manjavidze and Zviad Tomaradze, also includes Sandro Bregadze, who was Deputy State Minister for Diaspora Issues before resigning in February, 2016. According to the referendum, the question will be phrased as: “Do you agree that civil marriage be defined as marrying a woman and a man to create a new family?”
