• Most of the changes originate from Ivanishvili-related constitutional amendment;
• Some proposed amendments involve provisions regulating int’l observers’ work; 

Parliament will start this week consideration of draft amendments to the election code to reflect those recent changes in the constitution, which allows leader of Georgian Dream opposition coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili to vote and be elected in parliamentary and presidential elections this October and next year, respectively, without having Georgian citizenship.

According to the planned amendments a Georgian-born citizen of EU-member state, who has permanently lived in Georgia for last 5 years, will enjoy all the rights and obligations envisaged by Georgia election code and law on political parties, among them to campaign and fund political parties; according to the law a person can donate maximum of GEL 60,000 to a political party per year.

Ivanishvili said he would not make use of constitutional amendment and would not run in elections without having Georgian citizenship.

The proposed amendments to the election code also envisages a provision to reflect another recent constitutional amendment according to which the minimum age for becoming an MP was reduced from 25 to 21.

In other proposals, the draft amendments to the election code say that an international election observation organization should have no more than two representatives at one polling station.

The draft amendments also lay out principles, which an international election observation organization should meet in order to be registered: “respecting Georgian legislation, sovereignty and international human rights norms; refraining from hampering the electoral process; political impartiality; financial independence from the participants of Georgia’s electoral process and transparency of financial sources; ruling out conflict of interests and observation of regulations recognized by the declaration of the key principles of international election observation”.

On June 5 President Saakashvili stressed importance of presence of as many “real” international observers, and not “false” ones, as possible to monitor the October parliamentary elections.