“It Affects You” vs Constitutional Amendments

Oto Dalakishvili, Netgazeti

Nongovernmental and media organizations from the campaign “It Affects You” do not approve of the Christian Democratic Movement’s initiative on constitutional amendments.

Executive director of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Nino Lomjaria thinks this initiative contradicts both the current election system and national legislation: “this initiative contradicts the Law of Georgia on Political Unions of Citizens and the Georgian Election Code. You know that according to those laws, foreign citizens cannot participate in the pre-election campaign nor fund the political process. The initiated amendments to the Constitution and  the effect this would have in particular situations and on certain person are completely unacceptable,” Lomjaria said.

She added that the initial rationale for prohibiting the funding of political parties by certain legal entities was the assumption that foreign citizens might stand behind those legal entities. The legislative body and executive authority considered these cases as possibly compromising the sovereignty of the country.

 “Thus, the Christian Democrat’s initiative contradicts the strong position of the legislative body, which was demonstrated several months ago and intended to eradicate involvement of any foreign finances and citizens in Georgian politics,” Lomjaria told the Netgazeti.

Lomjaria was asked whether any country worldwide had similar practices and she said that in some European states, citizens of EU member states can participate in elections:

“We carried out a small survey. For example, citizens of other EU member states can participate in the elections of some European states. However, it is noteworthy that only citizens of EU member states can participate in the elections and not citizens of countries outside the EU,” Lomjaria said.

Nongovernmental organizations called upon the Christian Democrats to refrain from discussion on their initiative.

On April 5, 2012 the Christian-Democratic Movement initiated draft-amendments to the Constitution of Georgia. The draft amendments aim to allow a citizen of an EU member state, who was born in Georgia and has lived in Georgia for the last 10 years, to participate in elections and occupy political positions in Georgia.

Members of the campaign “It Affects You” believe that a legal solution can easily be found in this particular situation. They say that current legislation allows for simple restoration of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s citizenship and that the Constitution of Georgia would not have to be changed.