Parliament Still Deadlocked Over Election Code

(Tbilisi, July 31, 2003, Civil Georgia) – Despite long and heated debates over the Election Code Parliamentary special session ended at 4:30 AM today without any particular decision.

All night long from July 30 through July 31 Parliament debated over the Election Code, which was adopted by the first hearing on July 24.

The opposition factions United Democrats, National Movement, New Rights and Traditionalists used any legal procedural mean to delay voting on the issue, as the code was doomed for failure, since the Revival, Industrialists factions, as well as the pro-Presidential factions were against adoption of the !
code by second hearing.

The Revival and pro-Presidential factions blamed Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze for hindering the voting on the issue.

The US Embassy in Georgia issued on July 30 a statement calling on Georgian political parties and government to hasten election system’s reform.

“Adoption by the Parliament of amendments to the Election Code, including reform of election commissions, is a necessary element of democratic elections in Georgia,” the statement reads.

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