Despite the expiration of the term established by the legislation, the election of the CEC chairperson and professional members has not taken place until now.
In August of this year, the term of office of the chairperson and two members of the Central Election Commission of Georgia expired. According to the rule established by the legislation, on July 13, the President announced a competition for the selection of candidates that had to be presented to the Parliament. On August 5, Salome Zurabishvili presented to the legislative body persons for the position of the CEC chairperson and one member of the CEC, while the competition for remaining CEC member was announced again. On August 26, the president presented candidates for the remaining seat.
For the position of the CEC chairperson, the President submitted to the Parliament the candidacies of Tamar Alfaidze and Revaz Egadze, and for the CEC members - Kristine Kajaia and Levan Isakadze, and, later, of Natia Tsiptauri and Giorgi Marsagishvili.
The current chairperson, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, participating in the competition for the third time, was also nominated by the competition commission as a candidate of the CEC chairperson. However, the president refused to support his candidacy. According to the statement by the president’s administration, it was due to the fact that he had twice failed to gain support of 2/3 of the parliament, thus electing a person for only a 6-month term, instead of a 5-year term, would not help the strengthening and democratic development of the CEC.
According to the Election Code, the Chairperson of the CEC is elected by the Parliament of Georgia following the nomination of the President of Georgia, in accordance with the rules of the Parliament of Georgia. Accordingly, the Parliament's Regulations define detailed procedures for the selection of the chairperson and members of the CEC by the Parliament. Article 204, Clause 7 stipulates that the Parliament selects the persons to be appointed to the CEC, usually within 2 weeks from the submission of the relevant candidacy, if nothing else is established by the legislative act of Georgia. According to Article 12, Part 9 of the Election Code, no later than 14 days after the President of Georgia submits candidates for CEC membership to the Parliament of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia elects CEC members following the rules of the Parliament of Georgia. Thus, starting from August 5, the established 2-week period has expired.
We call on the Parliament of Georgia to fulfil the requirements of the law and fill the vacancies in the CEC on time.