Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary chairman, said on June 3 that a commission on constitutional reform would be composed of dozens of representatives from five sectors.
 
Bakradze, who met with Avtandil Demetrashvili, who is slated to become the commission chairman after it is formally set up, said that it had been agreed that the commission would involve one representative from each political party willing to join the commission; a group of experts and academicians; representatives from Tbilisi-based Abkhaz government and a provisional administration of South Ossetia, as well as from Adjara Autonomous Republic; representatives from the state institutions, including the President’s office and the Parliament; and representatives of non-governmental sector.
 
Avtandil Demetrashvili, who is a former chairman of the Constitutional Court, said after the meeting in which lawmakers from the parliamentary minority also participated, that he was in favor of a two-chamber parliament in the new constitutional model; separation of the president from the government with the role of “an arbiter.”
 
A list of experts and academicians, who are expected to take a seat in the commission, was also unveiled on June 3. The list of 25 persons includes: Levan Aleksidze, a professor of international law at the Tbilisi State University (TSU); Davit Aprasidze, professor at the Ilia Chavchavadze University; Zaza Bibilashvili, lawyer; Marina Garishvili, associated professor, lawyer; Gia Getsadze, a legal expert; Vasil Gonashvili, legal expert; Tornike Gordadze, doctor of political sciences; Zurab Davitashvili, doctor of political sciences; Davit Dolidze, legal expert; Giorgi Kakhiani, assistant professor at TSU; Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze, assistant professor at TSU; Mzia Lekveishvili, professor at TSU; Malkhaz Matsaberidze, professor at TSU; Prof. Dr. Ghia Nodia, director of International School of Caucasus Studies (he served as education minister in 2008); Alexander Rondeli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS); Zaza Rukhadze, legal expert; Iakob Putkaradze, professor of constitutional law; Ketevan Kokrashvili, legal expert; Soso Tsintsadze, professor of ; Kakhi Kurashvili, doctor of law; Nana Chigladze, doctor of law; Vakhtang Khmaladze, expert in constitutional law; Zurab Jibgashvili from TSU; Giorgi Khutsishvili, a professor at the University of Georgia; Zaza Namoradze, director of the Budapest office of the Justice Initiative, overseeing programs on legal capacity development and legal aid reform.
 
Avtandil Demetrashvili is expected to meet with President Saakashvili to present him with a draft of a presidential decree based on which the commission should be established.
 
An exact timeframe of the commission’s work is not yet clear. The Christian-Democratic Movement, a leading party in the parliamentary minority group, has offered that the commission should table a draft of the constitution no later than December 31, 2009.
 
Ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s party, Movement for Fair Georgia, said it was possible to finish the work on the draft by the end of the summer. The party said that it was ready to join the commission if it would not be used by the authorities as a tool for dragging out the process. 
 
The non-parliamentary opposition parties, those behind the ongoing protest rallies, have rejected to join the commission.