Central Election Commission Rejects Referendum Bid on Parliament's Legitimacy
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected a request on Monday-submitted by an initiative group-seeking a referendum on whether the current parliament is legitimate.
The group proposed asking voters: "Do you agree that the current Parliament of Georgia is a legitimate representative body based on the mandate of trust of the Georgian people?"
The application was submitted on July 22, and representatives of the group attended Monday's CEC session.
The commission's Legal Department said the proposed question raised legal problems and could be unclear to voters. The group had said the referendum would not seek to dissolve parliament early or end lawmakers' mandates.
The CEC said, however, that a vote against parliament's legitimacy could effectively mean declaring the current legislature illegitimate. It also said Georgian law does not allow a referendum to dissolve parliament early or terminate lawmakers' mandates.
"The legislation of Georgia does not provide for this issue," a Legal Department representative said.
The commission also said the documents submitted by the initiative group were incomplete and did not include information required by law, including members' places of residence and telephone numbers.
Vakhtang Zarkua, a member of the initiative group, questioned the commission's reasoning.
"It turns out that the people's decision on the issue of whether the parliament is legitimate is something they are not allowed to decide," Zarkua said, arguing that this limits the people's constitutional right to exercise political power.
He said the issue was political and should not have been a matter for the CEC to decide.
Under Georgia's constitution, the president can call a referendum at the request of parliament, the government or at least 200,000 voters.
Referendums cannot be held on adopting or repealing laws, international treaties, amnesty or pardons, or restrictions on fundamental constitutional rights.
The CEC has received several referendum requests in recent years, but none has been approved.
