The intervention of the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church has failed to bring a breakthrough in the political impasse, at least for now.
The opposition has refused to end its hunger strike without government concessions, while the government for its part has refused to even consider opposition demand unless it calls off the hunger strike.
The ongoing political conformation took a twist on March 20 with Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, calling on the opposition to end the hunger strike and telling the ruling party to take steps to defuse tension.
The eight-party opposition coalition and the New Rights Party, which are on the twelfth and eleventh day of hunger strike, respectively, were forced to respond to the appeal by the head of the Orthodox Church – one of the most influential institutions in the country with the highest confidence approval rate among the population. It was, however, also clear that the opposition’s unconditional end to the hunger strike would have amounted to going back empty handed to their supporters and that would have not been a good option for them.
On Thursday evening, March 20, five politicians from the eight-party coalition and the New Rights Party went to the Patriarch’s residence to, as they said themselves, “explain in detail” the rationale for the hunger strike.
After the meeting Koba Davitashvili, leader of Party of People, part of the eight-party coalition, told journalist that the opposition would end the hunger strike if the authorities agreed to its “compromise proposal” on electing majoritarian MPs.
A written proposal envisaging electing 75 majoritarian MPs based on the so-called ‘regional proportional lists’ system, was sent to the ruling party after that announcement.
“If this single demand is met by the authorities, we are ready to end the hunger strike and resume talks with them on other election-related issues,” Davitashvili said. “We will not stop if this single demand put forth by us is not met and the Patriarch will understand our decision.”
Electing majoritarian MPs through regional proportional lists allows parties or election blocs to nominate several candidates in each constituency (the number of seats available would depend on the size of the constituency). Seventy five majoritarian seats in the parliament, with this system, would be allocated proportionally, based on the votes received by parties in a particular constituency. The system entails setting an election threshold and would preclude independent candidates, as all candidates must be nominated by a party or an election bloc.
Davitashvili said Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be taken into consideration, with seats allocated for both regions.
He said that the proposal was “a compromise” as the opposition were willing to accept a recently passed constitutional amendment increasing the number of majoritarian MPs in the new parliament from 50 to 75. This amendment was in fact the catalyst for the hunger strike.
The proposal is similar to one recently offered by the opposition Republican Party. The Republicans, however, had suggested that voters vote in multi-mandate constituencies for as many candidates as there are seats in a given constituency.
The authorities have already rejected the eight-party coalition and New Rights Party’s latest proposal, calling it “an ultimatum.”
Speaking to journalists late on March 20, Nino Burjanadze, the parliamentary chairperson, said that by making political demands immediately after meeting the Patriarch, the opposition was effectively directing the demands towards the Patriarch himself.
“Unfortunately, instead of unconditionally ending the hunger strike following the Patriarch’s appeal, our opponents now put forth a political demand to the Patriarch,” Burjanadze said. “I deem it totally unacceptable to place political demands as a precondition for ending the hunger strike.”
“Ultimatums are totally unacceptable, especially when they concern the Patriarch’s appeal for an immediate end to the hunger strike,” she said. “I hope our opponents will listen to this appeal by the Patriarch, end the hunger strike and resume talks.”
The ruling party wants parliamentary elections conducted on the basis of a system in which one majoritarian MP would be elected in each of the 75 single-mandate constituencies. The rule has already been endorsed with its first hearing. The second hearing is due on March 21.
The ruling party is better positioned to gain more seats with the single-mandate majoritarian election system, especially as the law stipulates that a candidate winning more than others and more than 30% of the vote would be declared the outright winner in the first round without the need for a runoff.