Ex-PM’s Party to Appeal Court over Rescheduled MP By-Elections

Ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli said his party, Movement for Fair Georgia, would appeal to the Constitutional Court against the Parliament’s decision to postpone MP by-elections in three single-mandate constituencies.

Originally by-elections of in Tbilisi’s one and in two provincial single-mandate constituencies (Ozurgeti and Gurjaani) were scheduled for September 27 to fill respective vacant majoritarian MP seats; polls, however, were postponed after the Christian-Democratic Movement’s demand to hold by-elections after the inter-party working group concludes reforming election code.

Earlier this month the Parliament passed a relevant amendment to the law, envisaging of holding MP by-elections in three constituencies either in May or June of 2010.

“We were preparing for running in these by-elections and for winning them,” said Zurab Nogaideli, whose party was among those few opposition groups voicing criticism towards the decision – another one was Industrialist Party; while most of the opposition parties remained indifferent towards the matter.

“[President] Saakashvili’s ruling majority [National Movement] party and his [parliamentary] minority agreed to postpone them. It [postponement of election] is a dangerous precedent,” Nogaideli told journalist.

MP majoritarian seat from Chugureti constituency became vacant after Lasha Zhvania, was appointed as Economy Minister in December, 2008 (he was sacked from the minister’s post on August 21); former lawmaker from the Gurjaani single-mandate constituency, Giorgi Gviniashvili, was appointed as governor of Kakheti region last September and Anzor Erkomaishvili, a former lawmaker from the Ozurgeti single-mandate constituency, quit the Parliament earlier this year.

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