Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) evaluates the impact of COVID 19 on electoral processes around the world. “Due to risks associated with the pandemic, presidential, parliamentary or local level elections have already been postponed in about 60 countries at this stage. However, in some countries elections have still been carried out despite the threat. In this article, we are going to review examples of both cases and present a preliminary analysis of the 2020 parliamentary elections in Georgia on the background of them”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: IDFI.GE

Tbilisi. “International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy” has revealed a network of fake media sites on “Facebook” having signs of tight coordination and attempting to spread pro-government messages non-authentically as well as to demonize critical thinking using disguised and homogeneous tactics. “Besides pro-government articles, these fake media sites spread also deliberate misinformation to discredit public figures and opposition leaders who criticize the government”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Web portal on human rights in Georgia publishes an article: Presumable purpose of the leak of the Georgian voters’ data base. “On March 30, news portal Zdnet reported about the hacked data base of the Georgian voters, which was published online. On Saturday, March 28, the personal data of more than 4,9 million citizens of Georgia (including deceased people) were published on a hacker forum (1.04 GB MDB file), which contained such personal data like: first name, surname, place of birth, ID number”. Read more… Source: humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, news released by ZDnet on March 30 in regard to publishing the list of voters of Georgia raises a number of question marks. “Information about mass disclosure of personal data of voters 7 months before the 2020 parliamentary elections may be aimed at discrediting both the voters list and the election process itself. Therefore, it is important to conduct a timely and thorough investigation into the possible fact of mass disclosure of personal data of citizens of Georgia in order to find out whether such a fact actually took place or not, published information contains real data on Georgian citizens or not, which databases were made public, how they were accessed and by who”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more…  Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a poster related to the referendum of March 31, 1991.  “On March 31, 1991, 90.3% of voters participated in a referendum conducted throughout Georgia, including Abkhazia. 3 302 572 people responded to the question – “Do you agree or not to reinstate state independence of Georgia on the basis of the May 26, 1918 Act of Independence?” 98.9% of participants voted for reinstating independence of Georgia”.  Read more…  Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi publishes the joint statement on the so-called “Presidential Elections” held in Georgia’s Abkhazia Region. “Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States of America do not recognize the legitimacy of the so-called “presidential elections” held in Georgia’s Abkhazia region on March 22, 2020. We reiterate our full support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders, and remain deeply concerned over the continued occupation of the territory of Georgia”. Read more… Source: ge.usembassy.gov

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has filed a constitutional lawsuit in the Constitutional Court. A plaintiff in this case is GYLA itself.  “GYLA considers that part 1 of Article 77 of the “Election Code”, as well as parts 2 and 3 of Article 7 of the CEC Ordinance No. 8/2012 on “Approving instructions for filing an application/complaint and its review in the election administration” with respect to paragraph 1 of Article 31 (right to a fair trial) of the Constitution of Georgia are unconstitutional”, - is stated on the website of the organization.  Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post: Internet ownership in Georgia. “Importance of the Internet, in terms of both daily communication and access to information, increases day by day. A number of Internet users tends to be growing and, respectively, so does the Internet industry. Information, obtained through the Internet, acquires particular importance in the pre-election period and may play a key role on the background of increased threat of misinformation and low culture of media literacy. Taking into consideration high public interest, Transparency International Georgia studied the ownership of large operators, existing in both landline and mobile internet markets in 2018, as well as their business connections. The study also highlights issues related to distribution and use of the Internet among population”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes an article of Tornike Gerliani – “Reform of the electoral system: Bill of the opposition and the issue of its compliance with the Constitution”. The article is about a report that has been released by the OSCE/ODIHR in response to the address of the Public Defender of Georgia and relates to an electoral reform proposed by the opposition (so-called German model). “The report of ODIHR states at the beginning that “the final decision on compliance of law with the constitution must be taken by local courts. This opinion reviews proposed changes and analyzes them with respect to relevant international obligations and standards ...” Besides, as ODIHR indicates, “all proposed changes should be considered attentively and adopted on the basis of a broad consensus among political parties.” The report contains a review of compliance of the bill with democratic approaches and principles, recognized internationally. In this part ODIHR indicates that “the presented package does not propose those changes to election regulations, which would have an impact on the issue of compliance with principles of a universal, free, secret and direct voting right.” Thus, the report does not touch upon the issue of constitutionality of the proposed bill, however, it indicates its compliance with internationally recognized principles,” – is stated in the article, - “despite the fact that the report of ODIHR does not appraise the issue of constitutionality of the bill, it is important to evaluate this subject theoretically so as not to marginalize the idea, which may facilitate to conduct 2020 Parliamentary Elections within the framework of a fair electoral system based on a broad consensus of the society”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Organizations are addressing to the Government on the transition to the proportional electoral system. “Backing out on the promise to adopt a proportional system, the formation process of the Supreme Court, the ongoing political crisis and the policies of the Government of Georgia has been numerously criticized by the country’s domestic and international partners. This is confirmed with the critical statements made at the European Parliament and the strongly worded letters addressed to the Prime Minister of Georgia by the representatives of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. This situation can be resolved by following through with the public promise of adopting a proportional electoral system. This decision would be perceived by the local and international society as the ruling party’s readiness to support the country’s democratic development”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations release a statement regarding changes to the electoral system presented by the ruling party.  “On December 20, during the fourth meeting on the electoral system conducted between the ruling and opposition parties, Chairman of Parliament voiced a proposal of the ruling party in regard to the change of the electoral system offering to split 150 parliamentary seats into 50 majoritarian and 100 proportional. “Georgian Dream” calls this proposal an “optimal compromised solution” after the failure of an initiative to move to a proportional representation system by 2020. In reality, with the proposal, voiced today, the ruling team advanced further and reiterated its desire to abolish transition to a fully proportional representation electoral system even for the 2024 elections”, - is noted in the statement.  Read more… Source: https://isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a study: “Mandatory gender quota at parliamentary elections in the EU Member States”. “Applying a mandatory gender quota is an effective mechanism to tackle gender inequality quickly. We have studied laws and practices of the EU member states to see how they managed to increase representation of women in the legislative body and what reforms they implemented to achieve it. The research shows that a mandatory gender quota at parliamentary elections is applied in 10 out of the 28 EU member states. The first six of them also use a unified proportional representation electoral system (List PR)”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) releases a statement regarding ongoing parliamentary discussions about a proportional representation electoral system. “EMC calls on the ruling team, opposition parties and independent Members of Parliament to realize the social and political context, which has brought the current issue of constitutional amendments to the agenda and urges the Parliament to support proposed constitutional amendments”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender is considering the transition to a proportional electoral system in the human rights context and expresses support for it, since it ensures the equality of the weight of votes, less lost votes, proportional transformation of votes into parliamentary mandates and political pluralism in the Parliament. “The Public Defender calls on the Parliament to support the transition to a proportional electoral system by the 2020 parliamentary elections, which will promote political pluralism and proportional representation of people's will and election results in the Parliament”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) releases a statement regarding transition to a proportional representation electoral system. ISFED calls on: the ruling party and its Members of Parliament - to keep their commitment, made publicly, and support a constitutional bill thus ensuring the use of a fully proportional representation electoral system during the 2020 parliamentary elections; all opposition parliamentary parties - to consolidate efforts as much as possible and use their votes to support a proportional representation electoral system”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. “Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center” (EMC) publishes an analytical document – “What will proportional system change for democracy”. “Introduction of proportional system will certainly be a positive development in Georgian politics. Furthermore, its existence will inevitably contribute to the advancement of democratic processes. However, in regard to a zero barrier there are certain questions and risks, which need to be further analyzed and reviewed”, - is stated in the document. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Holding the next parliamentary elections under proportional system is essential for democratic development of Georgia, for votes to be proportionately translated into seats and for fair political representation. However the initiative to introduce the so-called zero threshold is risky. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Non-governmental organizations respond to the ruling party’s initiative and call on it to satisfy the remaining demands. “We consider the resignation of the Parliament Speaker, whose actions/inaction largely sparked the public protest to be an important development. At the same time, reports have been disseminated about Irakli Kobakhidze’s possible nomination to the Constitutional Court, which, if confirmed, would mean that the legitimate public protest will have been ignored. We also welcome the ruling team’s decision to hold the next parliamentary elections based entirely on the system of proportional representation. The proportional system with a so-called natural barrier (0.67 percent) is the best option to ensure political diversity and that the voters’ will is translated into parliamentary mandates. It should be noted here, however, that such a low barrier, as a rule, complicates the formation of the parliamentary majority and the government and increases the risk of fragmentation of political parties. We would also remind the public that the Venice Commission’s recommendation that the barrier in the proportional system should be preferably set at 3-5 percent”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Comments by EU Ambassador Hartzell Conclusions of today's meeting of EU Member States Ambassadors.  “Events of recent days have shown the need for dialogue, consultation and compromise in addressing the challenges Georgian society is facing, - mentioned EU Ambassador, - “In this context, we welcome today's statement by the Georgian Dream leadership on initiating constitutional changes for holding fully proportional elections in 2020. This presents an opportunity for all stakeholders to come together to agree a way forward that strengthens parliamentary democracy and pluralism in Georgia. We expect a broad and consultative process and call on all sides to engage in good faith”.  Read more  Source: https://eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) evaluates an electoral system proposed by the ruling party and considers that it has both weaknesses and strengths. Read more… Source: gyla.ge