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GYLA supports the Agreement reached on the Electoral System

2020-03-09 11:18
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GYLA supports a consensus-based constitutional system. The maximum proportional representation in the legislative body is the cornerstone of this model. The current electoral system encourages polarization and prevents a wide involvement of the public in institutionalized politics.

Therefore, we welcome the agreement reached on March 8 between the government and the opposition, facilitated by international partners and assess it as a step forward to the democracy. However, we hereby regret that according to the document, the transition to a fully-proportional system in terms of the need of extraordinary elections will be postponed until 2024. Nonetheless, we support the proposed version, which significantly reduces the systematic flaws created by mixing majoritarian and proportional model and allows elections to be held in accordance with the game rules recognized by the parties involved.

Following the jointly published statement and the logic behind the legislative work, Georgia's supreme legislative body has a scrupulous job ahead, which, on the one hand, must determine the rules for fair distribution of the results of the proportional elections, and on the other hand, the boundaries of the majoritarian constituencies. GYLA hopes that the process will continue with the spirit of co-operation between parliamentary forces and that the agreement will form a basis for carrying out pre-election processes in a peaceful environment giving the citizens possibility to make their choice in environment free of escalation and tension on the election day, which is a prerequisite for sustainable development.