PACE Calls for Reduction of 7% Electoral Threshold

Matyas Eorsi and Kastriot Islami ? co-rapporteurs from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in charge of monitoring Georgia ? called on the Georgian authorities to reduce the current 7% electoral threshold.

?We repeat our former recommendation – that unfortunately was not yet followed – that the threshold of 7% should be lowered to a European standard which is from 3 to 5% in order to provide more diversified representation of the opposition in the Georgian Parliament,? Matyas Eorsi said at a news conference in Tbilisi on September 13.

Currently a party or an electoral bloc running in parliamentary elections must garner at least 7% of the votes in order to gain a seat in the country?s legislative body. The Council of Europe has been calling on the Georgian authorities for some time to reduce the current threshold to at least 5%.

Eorsi also called on the Georgian government to overhaul electoral legislation by the end of this year to ensure fair elections in autumn 2008.

As part of the PACE delegation’s fact-finding visit, Georgia’s implementation of commitments to the CoE and other reforms is under scrutiny. The last visit was paid in October 2005.

?Honestly, the progress this country has made over the last two years is stunning,? Eorsi said at the news conference.

The PACE co-rapporteurs are expected to deliver a special report on Georgia to the PACE Monitoring Committee. 

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