Controversial Constitutional Amendment Passed, as Hunger Strike Continues

The opposition’s prospects in the upcoming parliamentary elections suffered a blow with Parliament’s approval with its final reading of a controversial constitutional amendment on March 12.

The number of majoritarian MPs elected in single-mandate constituencies in the new parliament will increase from 50 to 75, according to the amendment, and those elected through the proportional party-list system will go down from 100 to 75.

The amendment was passed despite an ongoing opposition hunger strike. At least 43 opposition activists, including four lawmakers, are camped outside Parliament for the third day on hunger strike (March 12 marks the fourth day in a hunger strike for five other opposition activists). Meanwhile, six lawmakers from the New Rights Party are on the third day of a hunger strike just outside the parliamentary chairperson’s office inside Parliament.

MP Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Rights Party, who is one of the hunger strikers, said just before the controversial amendment was passed that the New Rights Party was ready to suspend the protest and to resume talks with the authorities if the ruling party dropped the amendment.

Given the limited popular backing for the hunger strikes, the proposal, however, was rejected by the ruling party. “Hunger strikes without popular support will bring little result,” political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze said on March 11. Only 10,000 people – far fewer than on previous occasions – turned out for an opposition protest rally on March 9. The following days have seen even fewer people – numbering only in the hundreds – supporting the hunger strikers outside Parliament.

There are currently 16 tents outside Parliament, three of them for medics and one large one for, as the opposition leaders put it, “consultation meetings.” The eight-party opposition coalition is leading the protest outside Parliament. The New Rights Party said they would have liked to join the protest but preferred to have what they called “a second flashpoint” inside the parliament at Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze’s office. The opposition Labor and Republican parties have distanced themselves from the ongoing protests.

Meanwhile, Burjanadze, recently a major target of opposition criticism, called on the hunger strikers to stop protesting and to resume dialogue. “We are ready to continue consultations about the issue outlined in the memorandum,” she said. “I call on the hunger strikers to stop protesting and to prepare for the election campaign.”

One issue outlined in the memorandum mentioned by Burjanadze was the rule on electing majoritarian MPs. Initially, it had seemed that the ruling party would compromise and back the opposition-supported so-called ‘regional proportional lists.’ In its February 14 memorandum issued in response to opposition demands, the ruling party said: “If there is consensus between the political forces, the majoritarian election system will be replaced by the regional proportional system. Relevant draft constitutional amendments have already been initiated and assuming consensus, the amendments will be in force by the end of March.”

The opposition has blamed Burjanadze, the leading ruling party negotiator, for a failure to follow through on that commitment. “You’re giving the go-ahead for the start of chaos in the country,” MP Giga Bukia of the Conservative Party told Burjanadze just before the vote on the constitutional amendment.

“The opposition will be responsible,” Burjanadze responded. “All opposition moves have been aimed at, as one of your colleagues [an opposition MP] told me recently, destabilizing the situation and provoking the authorities; we will not yield to provocations and the people will make their own judgments and the people it seems have already understood what is going on,” – an obvious reference to the opposition’s failure to attract large numbers to their protest rallies.

After the controversial constitutional amendment was passed, opposition leaders told supporters outside Parliament that they would not step back and would continue the hunger strike “to the end.”