New Rights Push for Election Code Amendments
The opposition New Rights Party said it was elaborating a series of amendments to the election code to ensure free and fair parliamentary elections this spring.
“Our proposals consist of two parts,” MP Mamuka Katsitadze of the New Rights Party told Civil.Ge on January 23. “The first part deals with the shortcomings identified during the presidential election and the second one with institutional and staff reform at all election administration levels and the Georgian Public Broadcaster and transparency of the judiciary.”
The proposals are in line with demands made by the nine-party opposition coalition, which, Katsitadze said, would be informed about the New Rights Party proposals.
“Our strategy for the upcoming parliamentary elections will largely be determined by the authorities’ response to our proposals,” he added.
Parliamentary Vice-Speaker Mikheil Machavariani, meanwhile, said on January 23 that all legislation dealing with election-related issues should be drawn up in consultation with the opposition. “We should prepare for the parliamentary elections much better than we did [for the presidential one],” Machavariani told Mze TV.
