2020 Georgian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia on 31 October 2020 to elect the 150 members of Parliament.

2020 Georgian parliamentary election

31 October 2020
All 150 seats in the Parliament 76 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Bidzina Ivanishvili Grigol Vashadze Party Georgian Dream UNM Last election 115 seats, 48.77% 27 seats, 27.11%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Irma Inashvili Davit Bakradze Party APG European Georgia Last election 6 seats, 5.01% Ran as part of UNM

Electoral system

In the previous election, 150 members of Parliament were elected by two methods; 77 were from a single nationwide constituency using closed list proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold which was to be lowered to 3% for the 2020 election.[1] The other 73 were elected in single-member constituencies using a modified two-round system, in which candidates had to receive over 30% of the valid vote to win in the first round. A second round was held between the top two candidates if there was no winner in the first round.[2]

New electoral law

Newly proposed majoritarian division of Georgia with larger districts

In June 2019, Georgian Dream announced plans to change the electoral system to full party-list proportional representation without an electoral threshold. Despite being supported by opposition parties, the legislation failed to be passed as only 101 of the 150 MPs voted in favour, fewer than the required 75% to change the electoral law.[3]

After the failure of the proposed amendments to be passed with the 75% of votes from parliamentary deputies, the government and the opposition held several rounds of talks, and in early March 2020, a memorandum of understanding was issued from all the parties of the political spectrum. The new electoral law stipulates that 120 deputies will be elected via proportional representation, while another 30 will be elected from single-member constituencies. The constituencies will be drawn according to the instructions given by the Venice Commission, and the Georgian judiciary. For proportional representation seats, the electoral threshold is 1%. For single-member constituencies, a candidate will gain the status of a parliamentary deputy if they gain 50% of votes in the first round. If that does not happen, the top two candidates will take part in a run-off whose winner will be elected. The US Embassy at Tbilisi lauded these agreements, as did leading European diplomats who have desired the 2020 elections to be free and transparent. No party can obtain a majority of seats without getting at least 40% of votes from the electorate.[4]

In its first hearing on 21 June, Georgian parliament passed the electoral reforms. 136 MPs voted for these reforms, while 5 MPs voted against.[5] On second reading of the bill, 115 MPs voted for the reforms, while 3 voted against and 1 abstained. The opposition United National Movement and European Georgia did not participate in the voting, as they demanded release of opposition figures i.e. Giorgi Rurua.[6]

On 29 June 2020, the electoral reforms were adopted by the Georgian Parliament, with 117 out of 142 members voting in support for the reforms.[7] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed these electoral reforms, calling on the Parliament and officials to respect the will of the people . [8]

Further Changes to the election code

The Georgian parliament passed further electoral reforms; however, the ultimate constitutional changes came from OSCE-ODIHR suggestions to the existing electoral code rather than the negotiations between the government and opposition. These include the regulation of election ads, the involvement of non-government entities in the electoral process, the regulation of the publication of opinion polls, and introducing a gender quota of 25%. The quota will remain intact till 2028. No fewer than one in three candidates in each party must belong to other gender. 94 MPs supported these reforms, while European Georgia and UNM boycotted the vote.[9] The US embassy praised the reforms, though voiced concerns over the remaining gaps in the electoral legislation, including lack of transparency in selecting Election Commission Members, dispute resolution, voter intimidation and providing for alternative channels to campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic[10]

Pre- election period and campaign

Ahead of the elections, UNM, European Georgia, Labour Party and New Georgia formed an alliance. On 19 June 2020, they announced a joint slate of six candidates, who will compete in elections in Tblisi. Newly formed party Lelo for Georgia refused to join the alliance. Analysts say that although Georgian Dream suffered a dip in popularity in the aftermath of crackdowns on the 2019-2020 anti-corruption protests, its relatively successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a boost in popularity .[11]

Problems soon began to emerge in the alliance. Leader of the Party Citizens Aleko Elishasvili left the alliance, accusing the opposition of acting in self-interests, and espousing pro-Russian views. The opposition, in turn, accused Elishasvili of trying to ruin the alliance's unity.[12]

The opposition alliance now features 31 political parties.[13]

Opposition Girchi party said that if it enters parliament, it will give Tesla cars to voters who turn out in elections via lottery. They said that they would purchase the cars with the state funding awarded to parliamentary parties.[14]

Opinion polls

Date	Pollster	GD	UNM	EG	SLP	APG	DMUG	Citizens	Girchi	Lelo	DM	Lead
July 2020	Edison Research	39%	16%	5%	3%	3%	1%	0%	2%	3%	1%	23%
February 2020	Edison Research	37%	22%	8%	6%	6%	2%	3%	2%	7%	3%	15%
February 2020	Ipsos	34%	24%	10%	6%	5%	2%	3%	3%	8%		10%
January 2020	Ipsos	22%	17%	9%	4%	4%	2%	2%	2%	6%		5%
December 2019	NDI	20%	13%	8%	5%	4%	2%	3%	2%	5%		7%
October 2019	IRI	23%	15%	5%	5%	4%	2%	4%	2%	7%		8%
October 2019	Edison Research	26%	18%	7%	4%	4%	2%	3%	3%	4%	2%	8%
September 2019	IRI	23%	15%	5%	5%	4%	2%	3%	2%	3%	2%	8%
June 2019	IRI	26%	22%	7%	5%	5%	2%	2%	1%	-	-	4%
May 2019	Ipsos	29%	22%	10%	5%	5%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	7%
April 2019	NDI	17%	14%	3%	<3%	3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	3%
December 2018	NDI	24%	11%	3%	<3%	3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	13%
28 October 2018	Presidential elections	38%	37%	10%	3%	-	-	-	2%	-	2%	1%
June–July 2018	NDI	20%	11%	4%	3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	9%
10-22 April 2018	IRI	27%	17%	7%	5%	4%	3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	10%
March–April 2018	NDI	31%	9%	5%	3%	3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	22%
November–December 2017	NDI	27%	10%	3%	<3%	3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	17%
21 October 2017	Local elections	55%	17%	10%	3%	6%	3%	-	-	-	1%	38%
18 June–9 July 2017	NDI	27%	8%	3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	19%
22 February–8 March 2017	IRI	30%	15%	8%	6%	4%	3%	<3%	<3%	-	-	15%
8 October 2016	Parliamentary elections	49%	27%	–	3%	5%	4%	–	–	–	–	21%

References

1. Key Points of Newly Adopted Constitution Civil.ge
2. Electoral system IPU
3. Ruling party proposed election bill scrapped Agenda, 14 November 2019
4. "Georgian parties sign election reform memorandum after months of talks". Rferl.
5. https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/1956
6. https://jam-news.net/important-electoral-reform-in-georgia-constitutional-amendments-pass-second-reading/
7. https://freedomhouse.org/article/georgia-government-and-opposition-join-forces-electoral-reform-compromise
8. https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/2093
9. https://civil.ge/archives/358240
10. https://ge.usembassy.gov/statement-on-the-passage-of-osce-odihr-based-election-reforms-july-2/
11. https://eurasianet.org/georgian-opposition-starts-uniting-ahead-of-fall-elections
12. https://jam-news.net/first-crack-appears-in-the-united-georgian-opposition/
13. https://jam-news.net/georgian-opposition-agrees-on-candidates-for-majoritarian-mps-in-tbilisi/
14. https://jam-news.net/come-out-to-the-polls-and-win-a-tesla-one-georgian-opposition-partys-initiative/