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New Leadership Downplays PACE’s Criticism
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| Head of PACE delegation: Georgia did not follow up on crucial recommendations. |
The PACE pre-election delegation, which visited Georgian on February 25-27 assessed situation in the country on the eve of March 28 parliamentary elections. The delegation reminded to the Georgia’s new leadership, “Rose revolution has ended” and the euphoria should go now.
The PACE delegation expressed concern that the new authorities, which came into power with the promise to firmly establish pluralist democracy in Georgia, “did not follow up on crucial recommendations” it made after the January presidential elections.
These recommendations mainly concern lowering the 7% threshold, necessary for gaining seats in the Parliament, to 4% or 5% and setting up politically balanced election administrations. However, with the elections less than a month away, there is no sign that the Georgian authorities would follow these recommendations.
“Pluralist democracy cannot function without a viable opposition. With the current 7% threshold to enter parliament, combined with a fragmented opposition, there is a real risk that the upcoming elections will result in a one party parliament. This would be a serious step back for the development of democracy in Georgia,” Matyas Eorsi, head of the PACE pre-election delegation said at a news conference in Tbilisi.
“One-party Parliament is not a Parliament,” he added.
The delegation also reiterated its position that the Georgian authorities should “without delay adopt measures that ensure the unbiased composition of the Central Election Commission and lower level election commissions.” Currently, 8 members of the 15-member election administrations at all levels are representatives of the authorities.
As a result of setting up election bloc uniting the New Rights and Industrialists and merger of two ruling parties the National Movement and United Democrats, according to the election code, two seats in the commissions should become vacant, which should be occupied by the two opposition parties.
While the PACE delegation was delivering its concerns to the Georgian authorities in Tbilisi, President Saakashvili was receiving a warm welcome in the Unites States. Inspired with this welcome, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili downplayed recommendations of the PACE and said that “lowering the barrier … will facilitate corruption.”
Saakashvili explained his opposition to the lowering the 7% barrier by Georgia’s needs to consolidate political parties. Georgian President said lowering the barrier needed to enter parliament “would be an incentive for the opposition, and parties in general, not to unite.”
Saakashvili told Rustavi 2 television that small parliamentary factions often trade their votes for political and economic favors.
The assessments of the PACE delegation gave a little optimism to the opposition parties, which suffer with low public confidence, according to the recent opinion polls.
“Our [PACE and opposition] positions are much closer today, than it was during the presidential elections. Now they share some of our concerns regarding democracy in Georgia. But still I do not see any political will of the authorities to meet all these recommendations,” Pikria Chikhradze, one of the leaders of the opposition New Rightists party told Civil Georgia.
Situation in Adjara Autonomous Republic and recent violence against the opposition movements in Adjara was another issue that triggered PACE delegation’s concerns.
“Clearly, democracy needs to be developed in all of Georgia. The delegation therefore condemns the recent events in Adjara and calls upon the Authorities in Batumi to guarantee that free and fair elections, including election campaigning, can be conducted in the Autonomous region of Adjara. The delegation equally calls upon all parties to abstain from violent confrontations,” the PACE pre-election delegation’s statement reads.
