Opposition Urged to Unite

The leader of the opposition People?s Party, Koba Davitashvili, called on opposition parties on June 19 to join forces in next year?s parliamentary and presidential elections.
 
?I want to call on all opposition parties to put our differences and ambitions aside and try to, at least once, unite for the well-being of our country, to sit down and talk about all vital issues for society,? Davitashvili, a former lawmaker, said at a news conference.
 
If such a coalition were to be formed, he proposed holding primaries to identify the most popular opposition parties and figures to lead the joint party-list in the proportional elections.

A hundred MPs, out of a total 150, will be elected through the proportional system in the 2008 elections.

The remaining fifty seats will be occupied by lawmakers elected through the multi-mandate majoritarian system, based on a first-past-the-post, ?winner takes all? rule.

Many observers feel that such a system gives an unfair advantage to the ruling National Movement party, allowing them to take all 50 majoritarian seats.

A similar ?winner takes all? rule operated in last year?s local elections, in which the governing party won a landslide.

Only the opposition Republican and Conservative parties ran on a joint ticket then, and in doing so, came in second after the ruling party.

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