Today, I signed the amendment to the Election Code, which will enable the Georgian Parliament to overcome the deadlock created by the April 19 Agreement for almost three years and elect professional members and the chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker wrote on Facebook.

Papuashvili stated that the previous regulation, which required a 2/3 majority vote to elect CEC members and appoint an opposition politician as the alternate chairman, does not exist in any country and is not based on party dialogue. “It was a persistent idea of the mediator, which proved ineffective and unfeasible,” he added

“The law leading us to a deadlock must be changed. This is an axiom. Moreover, the continuation of this experimental regulation could fuel radicalism and harm the country, necessitating its prompt amendment.

Despite the annulment of the April 19 agreement, we had allowed the experimental regulation to operate for almost three years. However, with the upcoming elections approaching, and we cannot afford ineffective experiments that risk weakening democratic institutions.

The Georgian people have entrusted us with the mandate to strengthen democratic institutions, not weaken them,” Papuashvili concluded.