President Initiates Public Campaign to Review Constitution

Georgia’s President, Giorgi Margvelshvili, started a new campaign called The Constitution Belongs to Everyone, which aims to increase public discussions over possible changes—including the model of the election system, local self-government, and the people’s role in monitoring politicians—to the Georgian Constitution.

The campaign was presented on March 10 at the Presidential Palace and around 300 politicians, diplomats, NGO representatives, and reporters were invited to the event.

Currently, amendments to the Constitution are discussed by the Constitutional Commission, which was created in December of 2016; however, the president believes this format too closely resembles the previous one, and that the public is not sufficiently involved. “The Constitution unites us all[…] It is the free will of free people living within one unique space[…]It is a contract signed by the individual citizen with other citizens and the State on how they should function as a nation and country,” he said.

Margvelashvili stated that he wanted to campaign throughout the country and allow every citizen and every group of people to express their opinions about the Constitution.

“We will give everyone the opportunity to express their opinions and we believe this process will also help the Constitutional Commission,” the President added.

Following the presentation of the campaign, the President held a dinner with the representatives of the diplomatic corps, during which Margvelashvili once again emphasized the importance of broad discussions and public involvement in the amendment process of the country’s most important document, the Constitution.

Members of the ruling party Georgian Dream (GD) were also invited to the event, but declined, instead calling on the President’s Administration to take part in the work of the Constitutional Commission.

Vice-Premier and Energy Minister, Kakhi Kaladze, commented on the Presidential initiative. He said, “There is a Constitutional Commission which works on changes to the Constitution. Who the President is going to meet or whom he will hold consultations with is of no interest to me. I am interested specifically in the Commission’s work and what output the Commission will offer.”

Thea Morrison