Legal Issues Committee discusses constitutional bills on 2020 elections

The Legal Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia has considered two draft constitutional laws for the first hearing on the holding of the 2020 parliamentary elections with the proportional system.

Chair of the Committee Anri Okhanashvili put up for discussion a draft law prepared by 93 members of the Parliament on amending the constitution for the 2020 parliamentary elections to be held with a proportional system and ‘zero’ threshold.

“Public consultations on the draft constitutional law were held and the process included the public, parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition. Overall, there are several issues where there has been a political consensus. We stand by the principle by which we initiated this bill. Nevertheless, the essence remains the same, as a result of the views expressed in the debates, including those expressed by the parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition, several adjustments have been made to the draft law,” said Okhanashvili.

According to the draft law, the mandates in the upcoming parliamentary elections will be distributed by the following system: the number of votes received by each political party shall be multiplied by 150 and divided by the number of votes received by all political parties participating in the elections. The mandate (mandates) will be secured by all political parties that receive a sufficient number of votes for at least one mandate.

Furthermore, to determine the number of seats won by political parties following the next parliamentary elections, the number of votes received by each political party will be multiplied by 150 and divided by the number of votes received by each political party that has received at least one mandate. The number received represents the number of mandates received by a political party. If the sum of the mandates received by a political party is less than 150, the remaining mandates will be distributed to the political parties with the largest scores.

Irakli Abesadze, the European Georgia opposition MP, said European Georgia would support the draft law, regardless of whether or not the comments of their political team would be taken into account.

“It's a process of great importance. There is a very significant change in the constitution and consequently the electoral law, the basis of which is the demand of the electorate, and there is a lot of public expectations that this change will be implemented. I would also point out that European Georgia plans to support this initiative both in the Committee and in plenary sessions, regardless of whether or not our views are reflected in it,” said Abesadze.

The Chairperson of The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee Sofo Kiladze noted that the current government has taken a very important decision.

“When there are talks about the quality of democracy, the seizure of power and such highly politicized issues, we should remember that it was the Georgian Dream government that decided to change the system that was the subject of political speculation for years. We have taken this step for the benefit of our people and our nation,” stated Kiladze.

Representatives of the non-parliamentary opposition also participated in the discussion of the project. The Committee supported the consideration of the draft constitutional law at the plenary session.