Agreeing the Rules of the Game

The President of Georgia has said the State should ensure that voters should not have to choose between the bad and the worse.

As Giorgi Margvelashvili stated on Gurjaani TV, the core issue for strengthening democracy is not a change of government but to move to a more open electoral system.

“Today, we no longer have a situation where the future of Georgian democracy is equal to a change in government,” the President declared, adding that, however, “it does not mean that we should not care about extending democratic reforms.”

According to Margvelashvili, discussion about a change of authorities is not underway as “we are talking about the advancement of democracy.” He continued that the aim is not to improve any political party and let another in, instead, “The aim is to ensure that voters do not have to choose between the bad and the worse.”

The President hopes that communication with the new Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, will be effective.

The President emphasized the relationship between institutions is necessary for the state to function effectively; therefore, “none of the parties could gain from the estrangement that has been around these past two years. The process has not brought anything positive to any political actor. So, logically, it will no longer continue this way,” Margvelashvili stated.

The President also commented on the upcoming parliamentary elections of October 2016. He said the resignation of the first and the second vice Prime Ministers is part of a normal functioning of a government. “I do not know what the reason was [for the former PM’s resignation late December],” he said. “[but] the effective functioning of a state demands cooperation between constitutional institutions, the President, the Parliament and the Executive Government.”

“We should not criticize the government for not wanting to lose. This is normal. Any political party, whether in power or in opposition, aims at coming to power or staying in power,” he said, adding, the important thing is how it happens. “It is essential that all the actors of the electoral process - political parties, non-governmental organizations and Georgian society as a whole- agree on the rules of the game,” Margvelashvili declared.

Steven Jones