Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili signed into law amendments to the Election Code regulations concerning elections of members and the Chair of the Central Election Administration.
Papuashvili said the document would give the lawmaking body an opportunity to overcome a “three-year-long stalemate” stemming from the EU-mediated April 19, 2020 Agreement between the Georgian government and domestic opposition to resolve tensions stemming from that year’s parliamentary elections.
He highlighted that previous regulation - for electing Commission members with a two-thirds majority and appointing an opposition politician as a substitute Chairperson - does not exist as a practice in any country.
"Moreover, this strange rule was not elaborated based on the dialogue between the parties, but was an idea insisted on by the mediator, and it obviously has not worked and would not have worked, especially during the period before the upcoming elections," Shalva Papuashvili said.
The lawmaker also claimed the domestic opposition would have “used this stalemate as an excuse for not recognising” results of the parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 26, 2024.
"A law that brings us to a stalemate shall be amended. This is an axiom. And a stalemate created by the law that can facilitate radicalism and damage the country shall be amended as soon as possible”, Shalva Papuashvili said.
The speaker said the “experimental law” had been in effect for over three years even while the April 19 Agreement had been cancelled, noting the government “could not allow futile experiments” before the upcoming elections.
