Draft Proposals of the Ruling Party Aimed at Normalizing Relations between the Political Forces, Restoring Confidence and Bringing Political Processes into a Civilized Framework

The proposed draft represents a compromise made by the authorities regarding all the key issues raised by the opposition political parties. Efficient implementation of these proposals will be possible only in case of the agreement between the political forces, followed with public declaration of this agreement.

Section 1

1. The footage recorded by CCTV cameras [at the polling stations] is public for any interested person. The CEC has confirmed in written that it will provide free access to these recordings on the ground [at the premises of the CEC], without any restrictions, in case of a request.
2. The violations, which have been revealed or will be revealed after familiarizing with the footage from CCTV cameras, as well as those violations in which documented evidence, drafted in accordance to procedures prescribed by the election code, are available, will be investigated under the rule and terms prescribed by the relevant legal procedures.
3. Draft amendments to the Georgian constitution have been prepared, according to which the government will be submitted to a newly elected parliament for confidence vote under the rule defined by the constitution. The draft will be unveiled for public discussions and in case of reaching a consensus between the political forces, this amendment will be adopted not late than in early April.

Section 2

1. Persons arrested during the November 7, 2007 events will be released within a week.
2. The majority of persons included in the both lists submitted by the opposition has either nothing to do with the November events or have not been arrested at all.
3. In case of reaching a consensus between the political forces, the newly elected parliament will set up a commission, which will investigate the issues related to the November 7 events, including the facts of mass unrests and [attempted] overthrow of the constitutional system, cases of cooperation with foreign special services, excessive use of force by law enforcement agencies, intimidation and attacks on political opponents and [the commission] will give a political assessment to these facts. The commission’s findings will not result into criminal proceedings against any person.
4. The facts revealed with regard to the November, 2007 events will not become the basis for confrontation, political reprisals and criminal prosecution.
5. In case of reaching a consensus between the political associations, a commission comprising the governmental and opposition politicians, as well independent experts will be set up within a month. Based on the experience of developed countries, the commission will elaborate proposals regarding the implementation of further reforms at the Interior Ministry, as well as the proposals on setting up a monitoring council, which will oversee the activities of the law enforcement agencies.   
6. In case of successful completion of a political dialogue, in order to create transparent and fair environment for election campaign, a coordinating council of political forces will be set up not late than March 15, which will also involve lawmakers. The coordinating council will monitor the activities of administrative bodies during a pre-election period.   

Section 3

1. The Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster will be composed anew. A competition for all vacancies has already been announced. By late February the Board will be composed of new members. In case of successful completion of a political dialogue, the members and chairman of the Board will be selected based on a consensus between the political forces. The new Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster will appoint a new director general.
2. Monitoring over observance of journalistic standards will be conducted through the self-regulation mechanisms developed by the Public Broadcaster and the society. The proposals on the rule of creating a group with relevant functions and its activities will be elaborated within a month.
3. Free access of media sources in the courtrooms without video cameras is secured. Audio recordings of trials will be provided without any restrictions upon the request.

Section 4

1. The parliamentary elections will be held not earlier than May 14 and not later than May 24. It will enable any election stakeholder to plan the election campaign and resources.     
2. In case of reaching a consensus between the political forces, the majoritarian election system will be replaced by the regional proportional system, as recommended by the OSCE experts. With this purpose, the draft constitutional amendments have already been initiated and in case of a consensus, the relevant amendments will be implemented by the end of March.
3. In case of reaching a consensus, a constitutional amendment will be passed by the end of March envisaging the reduction of an election threshold from 7 to 5%. 
4. Mechanisms for making footage from the CCTV cameras at the polling stations immediately available will be developed. It will ensure duly reaction on violations, on the one hand, and simultaneously, it will rule out artificial delay of summarizing the election results.
5. Before March 25 the CEC will submit proposals on technical aspects of installing CCTV cameras at all polling stations.
6. In case of reaching a consensus between the political forces, during the election period the district election commissions will be composed under the same principle as the CEC. A district commission (a total of 13 members) will include 6 members from opposition parties during the election period.
7. Some articles of the election code, dealing with restriction of participation of public officials in the election campaigning, as well as with restriction of use of budgetary resources in the electoral campaign, will be made clearer.
8. In case of reaching a consensus, in order to create a meaningful mechanism for addressing election-related complaints, a Special Council for considering election disputes will be set up, which will be composed through consultations between the political forces. The council will be composed of four or six members. In case of a consensus, additional member will be selected by a respected international organization (by the end of March).
9. With the participation of political forces, non-governmental organizations and stakeholders, the amendments to the election code will be developed, which will mostly reflect the recommendations unveiled in the findings of international organizations (by the end of March).
10. In case of a full consensus between the political forces and reaching an agreement on concrete candidates, by mid-March the composition of the Central Election Commission will be revised.