TBILISI – The Georgian parliament on Thursday passed a draft edition of the new constitution at an extraordinary session on Thursday. Only representatives of the parliamentary majority, 115 deputies, took part in the voting.
The second reading of the draft edition of the new constitution will be held on Friday, June 23, and the third and final reading of the document will take place in October, after receiving relevant recommendations from the Venice Commission, Parliament Speaker Irakly Kobakhidze said.
The opposition factions, for their part, refused to participate in the debate on the draft edition of the new constitution, saying the document is raw and its content is “anti-democratic.”
In accordance with the new constitution, Georgia becomes a parliamentary republic.
The main articles of the new constitution, which caused the opposition’s protest, deal with the system of elections on proportionate lists, which will be used from 2024 instead of from 2020 and the president will be elected by appointed electors instead of by direct voting.
Commenting on the voting, President Giorgi Margvelashvili called on the parliamentarians not to adopt the new constitution, which has no support in the political circles and society.
“I want to tell all deputies: don’t subject political process to violence by your voting. Since 1995, all changes to the constitution have been made without the approval of others, only by one party. Unfortunately, it continues now. Adopting a constitution using force and without accord is the wrong step,” Margvelashvili said.
