Constitutional reform in Georgia
Fernando Casal Bertoa
Dr Fernando Casal Bertoa has explored the sources of stability in party systems in various countries.
What was studied?
Advising civil representatives
He was asked by Transparency International-Georgia (TI) to meet with various civil society representatives as well as with Professor Irakli Kobakhidze, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament and Head of the Parliamentary Commission for Constitutional Reform, to give an informed opinion on the issue of constitutional reform, especially in relation to expected changes to the mode of election of the president and the electoral system used for legislative elections.
Following such discussions, he was invited to speak in an International Conference co-organised by TI, Open Society and International IDEA, chaired by Professor Kobakhidze, and attended by the representatives of all political parties (parliamentary and non-parliamentary), international organisations (for example, IFES, IDEA, ISFED, NIMD, etc), academics, journalists, academics (both lawyers and political scientists) and other civil society representatives taking place on 29 March 2017. His talk can be viewed in Spanish.
What was the impact?
On 26 September 2017, the Georgia government adopted Parliamentarism (ie indirect presidential elections) and a fully proportional electoral system, with a caveat: the reforms will only enter into effect in 2024, in a kind of "consensus-building" spirit. The Venice Commission described the reform as one that "will improve the lives of Georgian people", it was vetoed by the Georgian President on 9 October, and finally approved by the Georgian parliament on 14 October 2017.
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