The Parliament approved on June 30 with its second hearing the government-backed proposal over the new rule of electing a City Council and the Tbilisi Mayor. Parliamentarians from the opposition New Rights and Conservatives parties boycotted discussions.
The proposal envisages the election of the 25 members of the City Council through a first-past-the-post, ?winner takes all? system, while the remaining 12 seats will be distributed, through so called a ?compensatory list,? among those parties which garner at least 4% of votes in all ten constituencies of the capital city. The 37-member City Council will then elect the Tbilisi Mayor from among its members with at least 2/3 of votes for a four-year term.
The proposal abolishes the position of the Premier of Tbilisi and increases the Mayor?s authorities in budgetary issues.
The opposition parties condemned this new rule of election of the City Council and also demanded direct elections Mayor.
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