Majority to reconsider MPs age requirements
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, March 6
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party is going to reconsider the age requirements of Members of Parliament, which according to the constitution is 21 years.
The majority believes the lowest age limit for being an MP should be 25 years.
The changes are outlined in a draft of constitutional amendments prepared by the ruling party.
Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Issues, Davit Matikashvili, says 25 years is the age when a person can assume such a big responsibility of being a member of parliament, while the majority leader, Archil Talakvadze, says that if the changes are made, they will be well-grounded.
The opposition believes that the main aspect of being an MP is not age, but qualifications.
Member of the United National Movement (UNM) Tinatin Bokuchava says that at present, MPs are chosen on the basis of their loyalty.
“This is the problem today, not any age limits,” she added.
Zurab Chiaberashvili from the parliamentary minority Movement for Freedom-European Georgia, says not the age requirements are important, but the system itself which is used to staff Parliament is of greater concern.
Constitutionalist Vakhtang Zhvania believes it is a good idea to raise the age limit of MPs.
He says that in most countries of the world the minimum age requirement for people to stand as MPs is 25 or even 30 years.
“At the age of 25, people are more determined and they have already formed their views and directions important for the state,” he said.
The current age limit of the MPs was defined by the former UNM government in 2012.
