Alliance for Georgia Mulls on Local Election Tactic

Alliance for Georgia will announce its decision whether its leader Irakli Alasania will run or not for Tbilisi mayoral office after holding series of meetings with voters and civil society representatives next week, senior representative of the Alliance said on November 27.

Three-party opposition Alliance for Georgia, involving Republican, New Rights and Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD), is against of proposed amendments to the election code, in particular against of rule of electing Tbilisi mayor setting a 30% threshold.

Asked what whether the Alliance for Georgia will run in elections under the proposed system, Zurab Abashidze of OGFD, led by Alasania, said in Rustavi 2 TV’s political talk show, Position: “Next week we will hold serious meetings with citizens, civil society representatives and after that, based on the mood existing [in the society] we will take decision.”

“Everything is possible; let’s wait and next week Irakli Alasania will himself make a statement on the matter,” he added.

The amendments to the election code, consideration of which the Parliament is expected to launch from the next week, envisages 30% threshold for electing of the capital city’s mayor, as well as rule of composition of the Tbilisi City Council; rule of appointment of Central Election Commission chairman and procedure for filing complaints about electoral violations.

According to the proposal the City Council will have 50 members, wherein 25 seats will distributed among candidates elected through proportional, party-list system and the rest 25 distributed among candidates who will win contest in majoritarian constituencies. Proportional seats will be distributed among the parties, which will clear a 4% threshold and majoritarian candidate winning more votes than others (without having any threshold) will be declared an outright winner.

According to the proposal the President will nominate three candidates for the post of chairman of the Central Election Commission and it will be only up to the opposition members of CEC to select one as chairman. If none of three candidates receive majority votes of opposition CEC members then it will be up to the Parliament to elect one from three candidates.

In the precinct election commissions the opposition members will have the right to appoint the commissions’ secretaries, according to the proposal. Alliance for Georgia was offering a system under which half of precinct commissions would have been chaired by the ruling party representatives and another half by the opposition nominees.

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