NGOs, civil society and diplomatic corps show concern over failed electoral amendments

After two day delay, the Parliament of Georgia rejected constitutional amendments which were to switch the parliamentary electoral system of the country from mixed to proportional.

After 37 members, mainly majoritarian MPs of the ruling party refused to vote on the bill, the initiative only received 101 votes, with 3 rejecting it out of 141 MPs registered to vote.

The public expectations for the ruling team to change the electoral system were high since it was the only promise that they made in response to the June protests.

The positive decision was also anticipated by the international organizations, local NGOs, civil society activists and the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia.

17 different NGOs came together to issue an emergency joint statement regarding the scrapping of the bill.

The NGOs noted that changing the election system can prove to be a pivotal point in the democratic development of the country. They also emphasized that the transition to a fully proportional electoral system was the demands of society as a whole and supported by almost all political parties and public groups. The statement identifies former Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Bidzina Ivanishvili as the sole responsible person for the recent development.

“The full responsibility for this decision is on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the chairperson of the Georgian Dream party and the country’s informal ruler. In an effort to cling to power and maintain the state capture, Ivanishvili is seemingly prepared to make use of an unfair election system to deprive voters of the opportunity to participate in the governance of the country and to unjustly seize parliamentary mandates,” reads the emergency statement of 17 NGOs.

They also blame the government for intentional aggravation of the situation in the past few days by not voting on the bill on the scheduled day. “This could be explained by the desire to cling to power by holding early parliamentary elections through the old election system,” reads the statement.

The NGOs call on the GD team and Ivanishvili to take necessary measures to overcome the political crisis and ensure the transition to the proportional electoral system.

“We call on Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream, to reflect on the serious political crisis in the country and take appropriate measures to overcome them, for which there is no alternative but to immediately ensure the transition into a fully-proportional election system,” concludes the statement.

Several member organizations of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform have also issued a joint statement, calling the situation ‘an irresponsible political game.’

“Recent developments suggest that we are dealing with an irresponsible political game, in which the ruling party, the Georgian Dream and its leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili, have failed to deliver on their promises, posing a major threat to the country's stability, democratic development, and a free European perspective,” says the joint statement.

The Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria has responded to the decision of the Parliament via social media, calling the proportional electoral system the ‘only beacon of hope’ that the country would emerge from a permanent political crisis and take real steps towards democratic development. The Ombudsman issued an official statement the day before the vote, calling on the GD party to vote for the change of the system.

“Today's decision of the Parliament is the decision to maintain an unfair system. I do not know how much political resources are left, but we must do everything to prevent the future elections from being held with the existing system,” wrote Lomjaria on social media.

Before the Parliament made its decision, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia H.E. Carl Hartzell expressed hope that the Parliament will not ignore the consensus that was reached this summer on a shift to a proportional electoral system.

According to the Ambassador, the EU has abstained from expressing an opinion on whether or not a proportional system is Georgia's best option in the run-up to the 2020 parliamentary elections, as this is primarily the preference of the Georgian citizens and the political parties.

“Since summer, however, there has been a political consensus and a joint commitment to work in this direction. Against this background, I see a clear risk that going back on this commitment at this stage would be seen as breaking the trust among the political parties, the trust with wider segments of the population, and to again increase the polarization in the run-up to the 2020 elections. I hope the parliament will take this into account in their vote later today,” said H.E. Hartzell earlier on November 14.

Following the negative decision of the Parliament to switch to the proportional electoral system for the 2020 elections, the U.S. Embassy in Georgia expressed disappointment in a special statement, according to it, they considered the move an important step in advancing Georgia’s democratic development and strengthening trust among political parties.

“We are disappointed, therefore, that despite support from opposition parties, an insufficient number of Georgian Dream parliamentarians supported the required constitutional amendments in today’s vote. We urge all Georgian stakeholders, including the government, all political parties, and civil society, to work cooperatively calmly and respectfully to move forward in line with our shared commitment to strengthening Georgia’s democracy,” reads the statement of the Embassy.

The U.S. Embassy also emphasized the ‘critical importance’ of passing the electoral reform legislation for advancing Georgia’s political pluralism.

“We again stress the critical importance of the passage of electoral reform legislation that incorporates the recommendations of international and local observer organizations for addressing shortcomings noted in 2017 and 2018 elections for the next parliamentary elections to create a more level playing field for advancing Georgia’s political pluralism,” reads the statement.

As of now, the 2020 election will be held with the existing, mixed (proportional and majoritarian) system. The proportional electoral system will only come into force for the 2024 parliamentary elections, as decided by the Georgian Parliament back in 2017.