Statements

On April 28 2014, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) filed in the Constitutional Court of Georgia on behalf of six residents of Tbilisi, seeking declaration of those provisions of the Election Code unconstitutional, which allow only political parties and electoral unions to nominate the mayoral/governor candidates. The NGOs consider that the impugned provisions, creating unequal environment among the party-nominated candidates and the independent candidates violate the prohibition of discrimination, guaranteed under the Article 14 of the Constitution of Georgia.   

In addition, the impugned provisions force citizens to associate themselves with a political force for participating in the mayoral elections, thus contradicting para.2, Article 26 of the Constitution of Georgia. The Article 26 guarantees the right of a citizen to refuse to participate in the activities of a political party.  GYLA and ISFED also consider that the impugned provisions contradict Articles 28 and 29 of the Constitution. Para.1, Article 28 guarantees the right of a citizen of Georgia to participate in elections, also ensuring the right of citizens Georgia to exercise their passive electoral right, which implies the right to be nominated in the mayoral/governor elections. The Article 29 of the Constitution of Georgia grants citizens of Georgia the right to hold a state office, while the impugned provision strips independent candidates for offices of Mayor/Governor off this right.