CODE OF CONDUCT FOR POLITICAL PARTIES WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTION LEGISLATION WORKING GROUP

Towards furthering the goal of free, fair and transparent elections in Georgia and in accordance with OSCE/ODIHR and Council of Europe/Venice Commission election standards, the signatory parties will adhere to the following principles during the election code reform process:

1. All participants should participate in the process in good faith and without pre-conditions. They should conduct all election code discussions in a constructive manner and aim for consensus;
2. The media is excluded from all sessions and any comments made during the sessions are to be treated as private;
3. Political parties should advance positions only if they are official party positions, rather than the private opinion of individual participants. Parties should aim for consistency of representation, nominating one representative each plus one substitute member. All representatives of the parties should aim to attend all the sessions. If they are not able to attend their substitute should attend in their place and the organizers should be informed;
4. Political parties should avoid any form of threatening or disrespectful behaviour during the process;
5. Political parties accept that any agreement reached should be supported not only during the legislative process but also afterwards as reforms are implemented on the ground. This means upholding the spirit, as well as the letter, of any agreed reforms;
6. The ultimate objective for Georgia is a stable environment for the conduct of elections. This means that a period of stability will be needed after the enactment of any reforms;
7. Participating parties will adhere to any other rules agreed by consensus by the Election Legislation Working Group.