About the new election code
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, September 29
The Georgian Parliament changes various laws quite often. As analysts observe the one which is changed most frequently is the election code. Somehow a tradition has been established that any new election must be preceded by the amendments in the election code, and today this is happening again. The opposition are demanding changes because they are sure that under the existing law they have almost no chance of winning.
The administration is carrying out these changes as part of the ‘new wave of democracy’ announced by President Saakashvili. Both sides claim that under the new code the elections should not be rigged. We think however that the major element is political goodwill. If this exists elections can be held genuinely even under the existing system, if not any changes will be in vain.
At the UN General Assembly President Saakashvili stated that work on the new election code was underway and the new code would be created by different political parties by consensus. Initially only the administration and Parliamentary opposition were involved in this process but now the non-Parliamentary opposition have also got involved. They hope that Saakashvili’s statement is not only words and a new law will really make the election process transparent and genuine and leave no room for manipulation.
Davit Gamkrelidze from the New Rights, which is part of the Alliance for Georgia, is sure that the opposition will be able to alter the new election code for the better. He quoted US State Department official Philip Gordon’s statement that perfecting its election code is one of Georgia’s priorities. Gamkrelidze is optimistic and hopes that the overall election environment will also change for the better.
Among the non-Parliamentary opposition seven leading political entities have combined their efforts and created a document enumerating major amendments which need to be made in the election code and then put into practice. They first worked out these amendments some time before the beginning of the protest actions this spring, planning to hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections according to these new regulations if they forced the President to resign. However their plans were frustrated, the administration and President did not resign and local elections have been for May 30, 2010, leaving the non-Parliamentary opposition a few months in which to try and insert as many of their rules as they can into the new code. .
Some political analysts are very sceptical and think that the prospects of achieving consensus are rather vague. The non-Parliamentary opposition’s amendments concern several issues; they want all MPs, and the Tbilisi municipality, elected by a proportional system and regional governments by the ‘first-past-the-post’ (simple majority in single member constituencies) method. The Mayors of major cities such as Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Poti and Rustavi should be elected by direct voting and the winner must have 50% + 1 of the vote, they say. They also want every political entity which qualified for a seat in Parliament at the previous elections, and thus received State financing, to appoint 1 member of the Election Commission each and a special arbitration system to be established to deal with disputes and controversial issues, but not all of these proposals are likely to be accepted.
Verbally, the administration supports the idea of holding transparent elections without any manipulation. But this would mean not only adopting a new election code but giving up using administrative resources to secure victory. The opposition has said openly that it will start very serious protests if the next elections are not conducted in a democratic way, saying that if the elections are rigged again holding street protests will be legitimate. There are about 8 months until the elections, but the amendments will have to come into force much earlier, as the Election Commission has to start working under the new rules as soon as possible and the election campaign should be conducted according to the revised code.
The opposition are pinning some of their hopes on the results of the EU fact finding commission. They hope that if they are sufficiently harsh towards the existing regime it will be forced to retreat and maybe hold some different types of elections. Georgians are romantic, and very often they believe in illusions, but politics is a pragmatic affair. Pragmatism wins.
The Tagliavini Commission’s conclusions are due to be published by the end of September. There are 2 days left. Let us see.
The administration is carrying out these changes as part of the ‘new wave of democracy’ announced by President Saakashvili. Both sides claim that under the new code the elections should not be rigged. We think however that the major element is political goodwill. If this exists elections can be held genuinely even under the existing system, if not any changes will be in vain.
At the UN General Assembly President Saakashvili stated that work on the new election code was underway and the new code would be created by different political parties by consensus. Initially only the administration and Parliamentary opposition were involved in this process but now the non-Parliamentary opposition have also got involved. They hope that Saakashvili’s statement is not only words and a new law will really make the election process transparent and genuine and leave no room for manipulation.
Davit Gamkrelidze from the New Rights, which is part of the Alliance for Georgia, is sure that the opposition will be able to alter the new election code for the better. He quoted US State Department official Philip Gordon’s statement that perfecting its election code is one of Georgia’s priorities. Gamkrelidze is optimistic and hopes that the overall election environment will also change for the better.
Among the non-Parliamentary opposition seven leading political entities have combined their efforts and created a document enumerating major amendments which need to be made in the election code and then put into practice. They first worked out these amendments some time before the beginning of the protest actions this spring, planning to hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections according to these new regulations if they forced the President to resign. However their plans were frustrated, the administration and President did not resign and local elections have been for May 30, 2010, leaving the non-Parliamentary opposition a few months in which to try and insert as many of their rules as they can into the new code. .
Some political analysts are very sceptical and think that the prospects of achieving consensus are rather vague. The non-Parliamentary opposition’s amendments concern several issues; they want all MPs, and the Tbilisi municipality, elected by a proportional system and regional governments by the ‘first-past-the-post’ (simple majority in single member constituencies) method. The Mayors of major cities such as Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Poti and Rustavi should be elected by direct voting and the winner must have 50% + 1 of the vote, they say. They also want every political entity which qualified for a seat in Parliament at the previous elections, and thus received State financing, to appoint 1 member of the Election Commission each and a special arbitration system to be established to deal with disputes and controversial issues, but not all of these proposals are likely to be accepted.
Verbally, the administration supports the idea of holding transparent elections without any manipulation. But this would mean not only adopting a new election code but giving up using administrative resources to secure victory. The opposition has said openly that it will start very serious protests if the next elections are not conducted in a democratic way, saying that if the elections are rigged again holding street protests will be legitimate. There are about 8 months until the elections, but the amendments will have to come into force much earlier, as the Election Commission has to start working under the new rules as soon as possible and the election campaign should be conducted according to the revised code.
The opposition are pinning some of their hopes on the results of the EU fact finding commission. They hope that if they are sufficiently harsh towards the existing regime it will be forced to retreat and maybe hold some different types of elections. Georgians are romantic, and very often they believe in illusions, but politics is a pragmatic affair. Pragmatism wins.
The Tagliavini Commission’s conclusions are due to be published by the end of September. There are 2 days left. Let us see.