Analysis of the New Regulations Introduced in the Election Code (Press Release)
On April 1, in the Holiday Inn Hotel, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Transparency International – Georgia and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association held a roundtable for the discussion of new regulations introduced in the Election Code in 2014.
The conference focused on the following: creation of the second inter-factional group and its work; recommendations of NGOs: election system and election thresholds for Mayors/Gamgebelis; work of the inter-factional group and new regulations of the Election Code adopted as a result of the discussions in parliament – their negative and positive aspects.
“Even though a number of new regulations adopted for the Election Code are clearly a step forward, comprehensive changes in the election legislation for improving the election environment to a significant extent, which we the non-governmental organizations and public in general were hoping for, are yet to be made,” – said Nino Lomjaria, Executive Director of ISFED.
The roundtable also discussed recommendations about the post-election period.
“We hope that following the self-government elections, the authorities will go back as soon as possible to reviewing the election legislation and will implement a fundamental reform. The work should commence in a timely manner in order to address all matters, allow interested parties to engage in the process and make decisions based on maximum consensus, and most importantly to implement meaningful changes. Therefore, we recommend that during the first stage of the process discussions focus on the following issues: the election system; composition of the election administrations; voter lists; election disputes,” – said Elene Nizharadze, ISFED’s lawyer.