Alliance for Georgia, uniting New Rights, Republican and Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD) parties, called on the ruling party to continue talks in frames of an inter-party working group on electoral reform and to try reach an agreement on the basis of mutual compromises.

During the November 18 meeting the parties failed to agree on the rule of electing Tbilisi mayor bringing talks on electoral system reform in frames of the inter-party working group to a deadlock.

Disagreement mainly persists between the Alliance for Georgia and the ruling party with the latter initially offering to have no threshold at all and later agreeing on a 30% threshold for electing the capital city’s mayor. The Alliance for Georgia was initially pushing for having a 50% threshold and later compromised and offered 45% threshold, wherein a run off will be required if neither of the candidates garner more than 45% of votes in the first round.

Pavle Kublashvili, a senior lawmaker who represents the ruling party in the working group, said after talks on November 18 that he did not see “any resource for continuing working in this format” of inter-party working group, which takes decision based on consensus.

Speaking at a news conference on November 19, Zurab Abashidze of OGFD said the Alliance for Georgia was ready “to make reasonable compromises.”

Davit Berdzenishvili of the Republican Party said on possible compromise from the Alliance for Georgia: “It [threshold] may not be 50%, or 45%, but it should be much higher than 30%, 33% or 35%.”