Georgia: Inter-Party Group To Draft Amendments To Election Code
By Civil.Ge
(Civil.Ge) — An inter-party group will be set up to develop amendments to election code based on electoral system reform deal signed by the ruling party and part of the opposition on June 27.
The group will be composed by representatives of the parties, which have joined the deal.
“The aim of the group will be to jointly translate the reached political agreement into law,” Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary speaker, said on July 2.
He also said that after preparing the draft of amendments, it would be sent, probably this summer to the Council of Europe’s advisory body for legal affairs, Venice Commission, for legal expertise.
“This is a serious step forward, because this agreement reflects all those issues, which have been debated between the authorities and opposition for years,” Bakradze said.
He was speaking after meeting with Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the New Rights Party, which together with Christian-Democratic Movement, has joined the electoral system reform deal. With the move the two parties have pulled out of a grouping of opposition parties, which have been cooperating since October 2010 on electoral-related issues. Other six parties from the grouping have refused to join the deal.
The meeting between Bakradze and Gamkrelidze was also attended by chief negotiators from ruling party and New Rights on electoral-related issues Pavle Kublashvili and Mamuka Katsitadze, respectively.
