Parliament Speaker Requests OSCE/ODIHR, Venice Commission Review of Electoral Code Changes
Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament, addressed the OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission today and asked them to provide a joint urgent opinion on the legislative changes initiated by the Parliamentary working group on electoral reforms.
According to the recommendations, when it comes to elections, Georgia is expected to guarantee the full functioning of all state institutions, strengthening their independent and effective accountability, as well as their democratic oversight functions; further, improve the electoral framework and address all shortcomings identified by OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe/Venice Commission in these processes.
In his letter, the Parliament Speaker noted that the Parliamentary working group on revising the electoral code was created under the Legal Affairs Committee involving MPs from parliamentary political groups, as well as the Central Election Commission (CEC), the State Audit Office, and civil society organizations.
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MP Papuashvili claimed in the letter that the new legislative changes reflect previous recommendations made by the OSCE/ODIHR, Venice Commission, and the Council of Europe anti-corruption body – GRECO.
Notably, the amendments have already been adopted by Parliament on the first hearing on 5 October. According to the current parliamentary schedule, the amendments are planned to be adopted on the third hearing no later than 13 December.
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