"Revision of the Constitution is on the right track, but changes needed to ensure political pluralism, says Venice Commission

"The revision of the constitution is on the right track, but changes are needed to ensure political pluralism," - the Venice Commission publishes the first statement after the plenary session.

Meeting for its June plenary session, the Council of Europe’s constitutional experts, (the Venice Commission), positively assessed the constitutional revision process in Georgia, but urged the authorities to reconsider the rules of Parliament formation, in order to increase pluralism in parliament.

An opinion adopted today reports that the proposed reform deserves a positive assessment, as it completes the evolution of Georgia’s political system towards a parliamentary system and strengthens the powers of parliament. It noted with particular satisfaction the active co-operation of the Parliament of Georgia and the firm public commitment of the Georgian authorities not to adopt any amendments to which the Venice Commission would object.

The move towards the fully proportional system of the election of all the members of Parliament is a welcome change, since the current mixed system has tended to lead to overwhelming majorities of the governing parties in parliament.
This positive step forward is at this stage somewhat limited by three mechanisms: a 5% threshold rule in legislative elections, undistributed votes below the 5% threshold are allocated to the winning party, and electoral coalitions (party blocks) are abolished. While the 5% threshold is perfectly in line with European standards, taken together, that could reduce the chances for small parties’ voters to be represented. At the session, the Venice Commission was informed that the Georgian parliament is considering modifying the mechanism on undistributed votes, and that other Venice Commission recommendations will be taken on board.
The Introduction of indirect election system for the President is in line with European standards, the Venice Commission noted. It is welcome that the new system will not be applicable at next year’s election but only from 2023. However, the Venice Commission warned against the constant and exclusive election of the candidate presented by the parliamentary majority. Regarding the budget, it reiterated its previous recommendation to strengthen the role of parliament.