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Ivanishvili: 2020 Polls Proportional, Zero Threshold [detailed text]

Bidzina Ivanishvili. Photo: gd.ge

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream Democratic Georgia (GDDG) said upcoming parliamentary elections in 2020 will be fully proportional with zero threshold.

The current Constitution which was adopted in September 2017, and further amended in 2018 foresaw mixed election to persist until 2024, while in 2024 the country was to pass to a proportional system with 5% threshold.

Ivanishvili made a special announcement after a political council meeting on June 24.

Key points of Ivanishvili’s statement follow:

– 2020 elections to be held through proportional system, with no threshold.

Ivanishvili’s announcement followed a four-day protest in Georgia, triggered by the Russian delegation’s presence at a session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in the parliament’s plenary chamber on June 20.

Holding of 2020 parliamentary elections through proportional party-lists, as well as the release of those protesters who were detained that night and sentenced to brief prison terms for disturbance of public order and detention of those law enforcers who exceeded their duties, were among the major demands of the peaceful demonstrators.

They also demand resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia, held responsible for the police crackdown on the night of June 20 that left 240 people injured few of them gravely. However, the ruling party chairman did not say a word about Gakharia’s responsibility.

Protest rallies will resume today at 7pm at the Rustaveli Avenue in front of the parliament of Georgia.

For more follow our tag on Tbilisi protests

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)