Georgia to deprive president of right to nominate head of Central Election Commission

The ruling party "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" has developed a legislative initiative, according to which the right to propose a candidate for the position of head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) from the president will pass to the speaker of parliament.

According to TASS, the bill was registered at a meeting of the Bureau of Parliament.

According to the bill, the chairman of the parliament will convene a competition commission that will select candidates for the position of head of the Central Election Commission and ordinary members of the CEC.

After the selection, the head of parliament will present several candidates to the deputies, who, by 76 votes out of 150, will have to choose the head of the Central Election Commission and ordinary members of the CEC for a period of five years.

According to the current law, if 100 out of 150 deputies vote for the candidacy of the head of the CEC, he will be elected for a period of five years, and if he enlists the support of a smaller number of parliamentarians, then for six months.

These amendments were adopted in 2021. Since then, the parliament has not been able to elect the head of the CEC for five years, since the ruling party does not have 100 mandates.

The current head of the CEC is Giorgi Kalandarishvili. He has been heading the Central Election Commission since August 2021. He was elected several times for six months, as he could not enlist the support of 100 deputies.

In December 2022, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili completely refused to once again propose Kalandarishvili's candidacy for the post of head of the CEC to the parliament, explaining that he could not get the consent of 100 deputies in any way.

The head of state proposed other candidates to the legislature, but the ruling party did not approve a new head of the CEC at all, and Kalandarishvili's powers were extended for another six months.