The parliamentary Legal Issues Committee approved the Georgian Election Code amendments on the second reading following the six-hour-long debates on June 21.

The opposition parties, which signed the April 19 EU-brokered compromise agreement, supported the revisions to the electoral reform bill. Members of the United National Movement (UNM) party voted con.

The ruling team and one part of the opposition agreed that the draft bill reflects the recommendations of the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR.

“We hope the reform will significantly improve the election legislation. It will contribute to the pre-election environment improvement and transparency,” Anri Okhanashvili, Chairman of the Legal Issues Committee, said.

According to Levan Ioseliani, Vice Speaker and the opposition Citizens party MP believes the upcoming elections will be more transparent and democratic based on the document.

“Our citizens will have no questions,” he claimed. He added that the opposition parties agreed on the Central Election Commission (CEC) staffing rule.

The ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition MPs plan to hold a working meeting before discussing the bill at the June 24th plenary session.