The FINANCIAL — The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili and parliamentary and non-parliamentary opposition political parties have developed a document on constitutional amendments that will be sent to the ruling party and the Venice Commission.
President Margvelashvili has held a press conference at the Presidential Palace regarding the consultation process and the consensus, reached with 20 political parties. He has thanked the participant political parties for the spirit of consent through which the process was driven.
According to the President, all political parties have understood one fundamental and important necessity – each and every person should compromise on something to reach a consensus.
“We began working on the draft of the Constitution, developed by the “Georgian Dream” and decided to introduce only those amendments which will be supported by absolutely all political parties.
These political parties have diverse perspectives on many issues. Consultations have been underway during the heated election campaign; however, due to the shared spirit and values, we have reached a consensus on the main topics,” the President noted.
According to President Margvelashvili, agreement has been reached and common position has been developed on the following topics: prompt introduction of proportional electoral system (fair distribution of mandates), retention of the direct presidential election rule, dropping the electoral threshold to 3%, keeping electoral blocs, maintaining the National Security Council as a constitutional body, better organizing the country’s defense capabilities and security, strengthening parliamentary supervision, and reinforcement of judiciary’s independence.
“Absolute agreement has been reached on these topics. Each and every political party has compromised and the main goal has been achieved – consensus is reached. Now this document will be sent to the “Georgian Dream” and the Venice Commission, in the hope that as a society, as a political culture we should be able to find common ground,” President Margvelashvili said.
As he added, myth as if Georgian people having diverse perspectives can never reach agreement is definitely proved to be wrong.
“Parties of totally different views share a single position on constitutional issues. To reach this condition, the spirit of consent and dialogue in which you are listening to others instead of opposing are necessary,” said the President.
At the press conference, the President has expressed hope that the newly developed document will encourage the parliamentary majority to reconsider its very uncompromising position.
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