New Election Code Planned by Spring ? Bakradze

Davit Bakradze, the Georgian Parliamentary Chairman, indicated that the plans to reform the current election code did not mean that early parliamentary elections would be held in spring, 2009.

“International organizations always recommended us to make changes to the election code several years before the planned elections,” Bakradze told Georgian reporters in Washington on December 11.

He said that the election code would be reformed by spring and then the remaining time before next elections will be used for adjusting the procedures in the line with the new code. According to the constitution local elections in Georgia should be held in 2010; next parliamentary elections in 2012 and the presidential elections in 2013.

On December 11 President Saakashvili dismissed the opposition’s calls for early elections in spring, 2009 and said it would not be appropriate in the light of the current world financial crisis. He also said that frequent elections would not be a sign of “statehood.”

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