Political Parties Outline Rules for Election Campaigning, Funding

Representatives from both the opposition and ruling National Movement parties, as well as officials from the Central Election Commission (CEC) signed a Memorandum on Funding of Political Parties at an event held under the aegis of the Council of Europe (CoE) in Strasbourg.
 
According to the Memorandum, which is an informal agreement between the political parties, the state budget of Georgia will annually fund those parties which have cleared a 4% threshold during the elections. At least 7% of votes is needed to take seats in the Parliament.

If a political party receives at least 200,000 votes, this party will receive 2 Lari (approximately USD 1.11) for each vote. The Memorandum prohibits political parties from receiving funding from foreign countries or foreign legal entities.

The document also prohibits the use of state offices for purposes related to a political party’s activities. 

The political parties agreed that relevant amendments will be made to the Election Code this autumn in order to formalize the Memorandum.