Ruling Party MP Proposes Fewer Tbilisi Majoritarian MPs

Davit Kirkitadze, a lawmaker from the ruling National Movement Party, has proposed that four of the 75 majoritarian seats in the new parliament be allocated to Abkhaz and South Ossetian consistencies.

The four seats, he said, should be allocated at the expense of Tbilisi, which would mean the capital only having six majoritarian MPs. January 5’s presidential election saw Mikheil Saakashvili receiving just slightly over 30% of the vote in the city, coming second to opposition candidate Levan Gachechiladze, who received over 40%.

The proposed rule on electing majoritarian lawmakers is currently a major source of contention between the opposition and the authorities. The rule, which was endorsed with its first hearing on March 4 by Parliament, proposes electing one majoritarian lawmaker from each of the 75 constituencies. If approved on the second and third hearings it would lead to an increase in the number of majoritarian MPs in the new parliament from 50 – as currently mandated in the constitution – to 75 and those elected through the proportional party-list system will go from 100 to 75.

The opposition sees the proposal as damaging to its prospects in the forthcoming elections and instead wants so-called “regional proportional lists” for electing 50 majoritarian MPs.

The opposition, in an attempt to attract popular support behind its resistance to the proposal, had criticised the fact that the proposal allowed for no representation for Abkhazia or South Ossetia. This, the opposition had said, was a move directed against the country”s territorial integrity. MP Kirkitadze, who is the secretary general of the ruling party, said that the demand for seats for the breakaway regions was “justified.”

Parliament is expected to discuss the proposal on the election of majoritarian MPs with its second hearing later on March 11.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)