Ruling Team Proposes Decrease of Majoritarian MPs Number to 50 in Parliament
The Ruling Party Georgian Dream has submitted a new initiative regarding the electoral system at the 4th round of talks being held in Tbilisi Today.
Speaker of the Parliament Archil Talakvadze stated that they propose to hold the next elections through a mixed electoral system, in which 100 MPs will be elected through proportional and 50 through a majoritarian system.
“We are proposing to keep the current mixed electoral system, however, to increase the proportional share in the system to 2/3. If you agree to this initiative, we will elect 100 MPs instead of 77 through a proportional system, while the number of lawmakers elected through a majoritarian system will be reduced to 50,” he said.
Another round of talks between the government and the opposition is being held in the Sheraton Hotel in Tbilisi today. Foreign diplomats accredited in Georgia are also attending the meeting.
The government and the opposition have already held three rounds of talks upon the initiative of foreign diplomats and international partners, aiming at reaching a consensus over amending the electoral system. However, all the previous meetings have ended without agreement or results.
The meetings followed the rejection of the GD-proposed election bill on November 14, which aimed to move to a fully proportional electoral system starting from 2020 instead of 2024.
The opposition is now demanding a mixed electoral system for the 2020 elections based on the German model, which distributes seats in parliament based on votes received in proportional elections.
By Ana Dumbadze