To Be or Not to Be: Shakespearean Passions & the New Constitutional Project

To be or not to be is becoming the leitmotif of the constitutional changes in Georgian politics. According to the politicians, apart from Shakespearean passions, the new constitutional project triggers other earthly ones, too: plagiarism, for example, with members of the former governmental party, now in the European Democrats party, accusing the majority of having stolen the suggested electoral system of the new constitutional project from Italian fascists and their leader Benito Mussolini.

Generally speaking, Georgian constitutionalism is in fact accompanied by both Shakespearian and fascist passions. For example, on August 29, 1995, when the country was about to adopt its first constitution following the collapse of the Soviet Union, its main creator and the head of the country, Eduard Shevardnadze, barely survived an assassination attempt. Some eight years later the United National Movement (UNM) turned Shevardnadze’s constitution completely upside down. In 2012, on May 25, the UNM constitutional majority further reformed the existing document and made changes of historical significance to it. For example, by naming Kutaisi as the parliamentary capital of the country, restricting the rights of the President and increasing that of the Parliament and Prime Minister.

This is the fourth time Georgian Dream (GD) has initiated constitutional changes, thus keeping perfectly in line with the tradition formed in independent Georgia. Every new government aims to adjust the main legislation to its own political ambitions and GD is no exception in this regard. “A new constitutional project has been presented to the parliament for evaluation whose creation will cost Georgia 40,000 GEL, while the expenditure of the former commission amounted to 360,000 GEL. Almost all articles of the constitution have been rethought, and 80-85 percent of the changes are based on recommendations from experts, NGOs and various constitutional organs. As for the procedures that the project should pass through – parliamentary discussions will begin in June. According to existing regulations, two hearings will be held in that month and during the next session, presumably in October, the final legislation of constitutional changes will be adopted with the third hearing,” he said.

Member of the Movement for Freedom-European Georgia, Sergi Kapanadze, compares the new electoral system to that of the Italian fascist Benito Mussolini, the so-called Acerbo Law.

“GD’s initiative suggests that the party in first place will take the votes of all those parties which were unable to overcome the 5 percent barrier. Notably, about 20 percent of votes were lost during the last elections,” Kapanadze wrote. “The problem exists in regards to the election of the President as well. According to the new initiative, Parliament will choose the president instead of the people. Additionally, political parties will be banned from creating electoral blocks, not to mention a decrease in the number of self-governing cities in the country”.

The opposition has already done its homework regarding how to burst Georgian Dream’s bubble. Leader of the Labor Party Shalva Natelashvili is calling on President Margvelashvili to resign, saying that if decisive steps are not taken now, the Georgian people will be deprived of their right to elect the president themselves. “I call for the active President of Georgia to resign, as this will result in early presidential elections in two months’ time. The constitutional project says that right after the Oath of the President in 2018, the right to elect the president will be revoked from the people”.

The President’s Administration and opposition have yet to respond to Natelashvili’s suggestion. However, rumor has spread that Margvelashvili’s circle is considering it, so that the elections of both the president and the self-government will be held together and, in this case, Margvelashvili will become the presidential candidate of the non-parliamentary oppositional spectrum.

Zaza Jgarkava