Government, NGOs Agree on Cooperation to Reform Election System

(Tbilisi, December 23, 2002. Civil Georgia) – The NGO coalition working on the reform of the election system held meeting with State Minister Avtandil Jorbenadze (chairman of the Citizens’ Union of Georgia Party) on December 22.

Zurab Tchiaberashvili of election watchdog NGO International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) told Civil Georgia on December 23, that the State Minister expressed readiness to carry out reform of the election system.

Liberty Institute, Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Georgian Young Lawyers Association and other NGOs forming the Democratic Coalition called the authorities on December 19 to reform existing system in order to hold the fair and democratic Parliamentary (in 2003) and Presidential (in 2005) elections.

Zurab Tchiaberashvili says that the creation of the exact list of voters would be the essential part of the reform. NGO coalition also demanded to cancel the existing Central Election Commission.

At the meeting NGO coalition and the State Minister agreed to form a working group which will work on the reform of the election system.