Georgia: Agreement reached on electoral model
An agreement has been reached between the political parties and everyone undertook a responsibility to bring the process to an end, - Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze said after the meeting held between the opposition and the government at the US ambassador's residence. According to Archil Talakvadze, yesterday they held the last meeting in this format on electoral matters. "There have been various ultimatums, sharp positions and disagreements, but today an agreement was reached between the political parties and everyone undertook a responsibility to bring the process to an end and to offer our citizens new democratic elections, which I hope will be held in accordance with an even higher standard. We can assume that this was the last meeting in this format on electoral matters, but we, as the ruling party, want that all this be maintained. Political prisoner - there is no such a phrase in our agreement. We agreed that justice should not be administered by any particular party and that it should not be used for political purposes. We will primarily fulfill our responsibility. In a short period of time, the US Embassy will release a statement on the agreememt,” said Archil Talakvadze.
The US Embassy to Georgia has released the text of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the opposition and the government today. “The undersigned parties agree to support changes to the election system based on the following draft text of the Constitution’s transitional provision defining the rules for the 2020 Parliamentary Elections.
The elected Parliament shall consist of 120 members elected through the proportional system and 30 members elected through the majoritarian system. The electoral threshold for proportional elections shall be set at 1%. A capping mechanism will define that no single party that receives less than 40% of the votes cast is allowed to receive a majority of seats in the Parliament. Further caps and provisions will be introduced in the legislation with the am of facilitating a more proportional distribution of mandates relative to the votes received by the parties.
The 30 electoral districts will be drawn in compliance with the relevant ruling of the Georgian Constitutional Court and the Venice Commission recommendation, suggesting that the deviation from the average electorate size of districts should not exceed 15%. Preference should always be given to creating districts within the same region unless the distribution of the electorate requires otherwise. Up to three limited exceptions from the above districting rules can be introduced throughout the country in the interest of encouraging the representation of ethnic minority groups, citizens residing in mountainous regions, or for accommodating particular geographic needs.
The Parliamentary majority will publicly present its proposed mapping of electoral districts, in line with the principles described above, no later than ten days from initiating the constitutional amendments in the Parliament.
Should there be early parliamentary elections between 2020 and 2024, the first such election will be held based on the election system guiding the 2020 elections. Any subsequent elections will be held based on the fully proportional election system as foreseen for the 2024 Parliamentary Elections.
The undersigned party declares full support for the above changes and commits to ensure its affirmative votes in the Parliament to pass the constitutional amendments”, reads the Memorandum of Understanding.
Facilitators of a political dialogue have released a statement on the agreement achieved at today’ meeting between the opposition and the government.
“We congratulate the participants of the political dialogue on today’s successful agreement, which represents a crucial step towards depolarization and normalization of the political environment in Georgia in the run-up to the parliamentary elections later this year.
Yesterday’s agreement foresees an election system for 2020 based on 120 proportional mandates and 30 majoritarian mandates, a fair composition of election districts, a 1% threshold, and a cap recognizing that no single party that wins less than 40% of the votes should be able to get its own majority in the next parliament.
The agreement is accompanied by a joint statement among the sides outlining the agreement and recognizing the wider objective of holding free and fair elections, including the necessity of addressing actions that could be perceived as inappropriate politicization of Georgia’s judicial and electoral processes and of avoiding any such actions in the future.
We recognize today’s agreement as a stepping-stone on Georgia’s democratic path. We call on all sides to adhere to it and to safeguard its successful adoption in Parliament and subsequent implementation, for the benefit of the people and country of Georgia”, reads the statement.
According to Giorgi Vashadze, the leader of New Georgia, the opposition is stopping rallies against the government. As Vashadze said on PalitraNews, if the agreement between the ruling party and the opposition is fulfilled, the election campaign will start. “We will have a meeting today and we will probably announce a moratorium on rallies. If they cheat again, we all know what we will have to do. If the agreement is implemented, there will be an election campaign. And it is not our goal to picket buildings and stand on the street,” Vashadze said.
US Congressman Adam Kinzinger was among the first foreign politicians who assessed the agreement between the parties in Georgia. "My heartfelt “congrats” to the people of #Georgia for reaching an agreement on the 2020 parliamentary elections" - he wrote on twitter."Democracy is hard , but worth it. Speaker Talakvadze and many others deserve appreciation for their work. Larger statement to follow later" - he said.
This is a great benefit for all Georgians, - EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said after the meeting at the US ambassador's residence. He said he was pleased to announce that an agreement had been achieved. “All parties achieved an agreement, which is reflected in our statement that has already been posted on our website. I want to congratulate everyone that compromise has been achieved”, the Ambassador said.
According to Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the New Georgia party, an agreement has been reached between the opposition and the government, which pertains to the release of political prisoners as well as a proportional electoral system. As Vashadze told reporters after the meeting, the constitutional amendment will be submitted tomorrow. And decisions on political prisoners will be announced next week. According to him, the agreement concerns, first of all, the release of political prisoners, as well as reflection of proportional aspiration as much as possible – 120 proportional and 30 majoritarian mandates, and the 1-% barrier. “First of all, I would like to congratulate all those who participated actively in this process. Thank you so much for all the efforts. So many street pickets, so many activities, so much support on social media or television turned out to be successful. I am glad that an agreement was reached between the opposition and the government, with the help of the diplomatic corps and I want to thank them very much”, Vashadze said, adding that implementation of the agreement should start tomorrow.According to the head of the United National Movement, Grigol Vashadze, specific persons named at the meeting with the authorities, who should be released from prison. “We named specific persons that should leave jail and the cases should be ceased as they are politically motivated. Georgian citizens and international community are still observing how honestly both sides will fulfill their commitments," Vashadze said. He said that at the meeting between the representatives of the opposition, they will discuss future actions. “One thing we have to do today is that other parties should sign this agreement if they wish. Then we have to hand these two signed documents to the EU mission where they will be kept. This is the first issue. The second issue will be to plan our future actions and the third very important issue is to observe how scrupulously the government will fulfill this agreement,” Vashadze said.
I can tell you directly that we have not made specific decisions in relation to any person mentioned by the opposition, - Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze said at a news conference today, responding to opposition members' claims that an agreement has been reached with regard to the release of Gigi Ugulava, Irakli Okruashvili, Giorgi Rurua and Besik Tamliani. According to Talakvadze, political parties agreed that the justice system should not be used by any party for political purposes and that no one should try to influence the judiciary politically. “We, political parties, have agreed that the justice system should not be used by any party for political purposes and that no one should try to influence the judiciary politically. Our goal has been and will be the rule of law, where justice cannot be part of political processes. No other specific agreement is outlined in this document and you can read the specific text of this agreement. Consequently, I can tell you directly that we have not made specific decisions in relation to any person mentioned by the opposition,” said Archil Talakvadze.
