Parliament Fails to Start Discussion of Election Code

(Tbilisi, July 21, 2003, Civil Georgia) – The today’s special session of the Parliament, which was to discuss the new election code, was postponed for the evening because of absence of quorum.

“Now, it is obvious that the pro-presidential parties deliberately block discussion of the US-suggested election guidelines [delivered in Georgia by former Secretary of State James Baker],” MP Giorgi Baramidze of opposition United Democrats faction said, urging to publish a list of those MPs, who did not attend the session. 

The Revival Parliamentary faction refused to participate in the discussion as rejects the US proposal.

The Industrialists Parliamentary faction is also against the US-suggested election guidelines, which consider composition of the election commission of nine representatives of the opposition parties and five representatives of the Presidential-backed election alliance.

The Revival Union and the Industrialists demand four and two seats in the commissions respectively, while the rest of the opposition parties agree to have one representative in the commission.

The rest of the opposition accuses Revival and Industrialists of cooperation with the pro-governmental factions.

“There are messages coming from the government to the couple of so called opposition parties, which trigger them to hinder implementation of the Baker plan,” Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze told Civil Georgia on July 20.