On 27 February, a meeting between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition occured, reported georgiatoday. The meeting was held at the residence of the EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell.
“The authorities named a new model- 110\40. I would like to reiterate that we will agree on two components: no political revenge and, most importantly, to take proportionate aspirations into consideration, meaning that those who have less than 40% of support should not be able to form a majority independently. The 110/40 system fails to pass this test. Therefore, we cannot agree with this. However, there are some additional components that are being discussed now. Let's wait and see what else they have to say,” said Giorgi Vashadze, one of the opposition leaders.
Irakli Kobakhidze, one of the leaders of the law-making majority, rebuffed the suggestion that any offer had been made by the ruling Georgian Dream party. “Today’s meeting was not held in the format of negotiations and naturally, we just discussed various issues related to the electoral system but did not offer anything. We discussed various aspects, but did not suggest a 110/40 model,” Kobakhidze said.
US Deputy Ambassador to Georgia, Elizabeth Rood (who was one of the mediators at the meeting) stated that the meeting between the parties was constructive. “I participated in the informal meeting between diplomats and politicians. We discussed political issues, but I am not going to go into detail. I will say that it was a constructive meeting and left everyone thinking, which will have an impact on the near future,” she said.
The Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia also spoke to the press about this meeting. “I am confident that it is perfectly clear to our international friends and strategic partners who serves what functions, who does what, and who is more motivated to reach this kind of consensus and further to build on it,” he stated. “You mentioned tougher sanctions. Are you aware of any sanctions that we might have? There are no sanctions! Any political agreement can only be based on consensus. And consensus is only achieved through smaller compromises from all sides. It is a process in action. I am confident that everyone will prove responsible enough not to undermine the country for the sake of narrow political interests, especially in such an important election year,” he added.
The Georgian opposition suspended formal negotiations with the ruling Georgian Dream party on the elections after one of the leaders of European Georgia opposition party and ex-Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava was sentenced to three years and two months in prison by the Georgian Supreme Court on 10 February (Caucasus Watch reported). Since then, many of Georgia’s western allies voiced their concern over the political situation in the country, the last of them being the NATO parliamentary assembly (Caucasus Watch reported).
