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Thursday, October 18, 2007, #199 (1466)
“I think it’s a good idea, it means that opposition parties will have a better chance to get into parliament. The next parliament won’t look like this one, full of majority party members.” “It’s good for Georgia and for the Georgian political system. I think a parliament with multiple parties and many different ideas and people will do a better job of solving problems than a parliament full of National Movement [ruling party] members.” “I think it’s a good idea, because after the elections we will have various representatives from different political parties. Saakashvili gave them a chance, and we’ll see what happens.” “It doesn’t mean anything; our opposition is very weak and won’t be able to win seats even if the threshold is two percent.” “Well, Saakashvili decided to lower the threshold because he’s sure the opposition isn’t a real competitor. But they’re stronger than he thinks, and they’ll win the next elections.” “I’m skeptical. It will be difficult for parties to get even this five percent. People are disappointed. As for prolonging parliament’s term, I can’t stand them, so I don’t exactly want them to sit around there for another year.” “Of course, lowering the electoral threshold to five percent is beneficial in that it allows more diversity into the legislative body. In Ukraine, they even had three percent. As for extending parliament’s term to five years in order to hold their elections simultaneously with the presidential ones, this is also good in terms of reducing election expenses. However, with so much suspicion, the elections should be held separately to ensure transparency.” “The threshold decrease is a good move, as it will do away with this single-party rule. But I don’t want to see parliament’s term prolonged—I want elections in April. I want a new system, a parliamentary republic.” |
On October 16, President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed lowering the election threshold from seven to five percent and diluting his power to dissolve parliament, among other constitutional changes. Are these proposals good for the country?