ISFED Urges the Parliament to Immediately Start Discussions about Issues Pertinent to the Election System
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy urges the Parliament of Georgia to start immediately discussions about issues pertinent to the municipal self-government election system.
The Parliament of Georgia is now reviewing the draft Code of Self-Government. In order for the reform to be successful, it is of vital importance to select a local self-government election system that will ensure fair elections and guarantee that mandates are gained in proportion to voters’ will.
The following self-government elections are scheduled to be held in May-June 2014. Even though there is a very little time remaining, discussions about the election system have not yet been started. In particular, a draft law about the system for election of Mayors, Gamgebelis and Sakrebulo members has not yet been presented to the parliament.
Notably, choosing the right election system is a complicated matter and requires the involvement of public and political spectrum, in order to allow maximum consensus. Furthermore, successful elections, readiness of all stakeholders and voter awareness requires that the decision made in a timely manner and the Election Code is amended accordingly.
To our best knowledge, discussions on election system should be conducted in frames of the inter-factional task force on elections; however, it is yet not known when the task force will convene for the first time.
Therefore, we call on the parliament of Georgia to ensure that the task force proceeds with its work on matters related to choosing the right election system as soon as possible and all stakeholders are adequately informed about working plans of the task force.
ISFED stands ready to present concrete recommendations about reforming the election system in the process of discussions.