On 8 March, the ruling Georgian Dream party and the united opposition, with the mediation of the US and EU ambassadors to Georgia Kelly Degnan and Carl Hartzell, reached an agreement on holding the upcoming parliamentary elections in October.
The agreement foresees 120 seats in the legislative body to be distributed via a proportional vote and the remaining 30 via the majoritarian system. It also foresees a fair composition of election districts, a 1% threshold, and a cap recognising that no single party that wins less than 40% of the votes should be able to get its own majority in the next parliament. The 30 electoral districts will be drawn in compliance with the relevant ruling of the Georgian Constitutional Court and the Venice Commission recommendation, suggesting that the deviation from the average electorate size of districts should not exceed 15%.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia thanked the diplomatic corps for their contribution in facilitating the agreement and said that it was an “important step” to further strengthen democracy in Georgia, decrease polarisation and help the stable development of the country.
The leader of the New Georgia party Giorgi Vashadze added that the parties also agreed on the release of political prisoners in order to overcome the political crisis in the country.
Many international actors also praised the agreement. “This is a great benefit for all Georgians,“ said Hartzell after the meeting. “Big congratulations to the people of Georgia with the achieved breakthrough in electoral negotiations. The Georgian government and opposition demonstrated political maturity & brought their country one big step closer to genuine democracy,” wrote the German parliamentarian in the European Parliament Viola von Cramon. “My heartfelt congratulations to the people of Georgia for reaching an agreement on the 2020 parliamentary elections. Democracy is hard work, but worth it. Parliament Speaker [Archil] Talakvadze and many others deserve appreciation for their work,” wrote the Co-chair of the Friends of Georgia Group in the United States Congress Adam Kinzinger.
The agreement on the elections should mark the end of the political crisis in Georgia which was ongoing since 14 November 2019 (Caucasus Watch reported).
