Election Code Amended

Legislators from the ruling National Movement party approved amendments to the election code with its first hearing on July 7, changing the rule of electing the Tbilisi City Council. Opposition parliamentarians boycotted these discussions.

Initially, the Parliament planned to discuss these amendments during an autumn plenary session, but the ruling National Movement party insisted on passing the amendments now, triggering protests from the opposition parliamentarians.

The new rule, envisages the election of the 25 members of the 37-member City Council through a first-past-the-post, ?winner takes all? system. Each of the political party will nominate two or three candidacies in each of the Tbilisi?s 10 constituencies. 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.

MP Giga Bokeria from the ruling National Movement party, who presented these amendments to the election code at the parliamentary session, said that the party will be able to endorse its nominations to the City Council only in case it garners at least 1//3 of total votes cast in the constituency.

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