Georgian Dream accuses GYLA of revolution-minded approach to the upcoming elections
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, September 20
Georgian Dream links the Young Lawyers' Association to a ‘revolutionary scenario’ and accuses it of creating problems for self-government elections.
“It is disturbing that what the United National Movement did openly on their own 5 years ago is now being done in the name of a non-governmental organization. It is worrying that two weeks before the elections, an organization with the status of a non-governmental organization is planning to create a problem for the elections with a new absurd claim,” said the Chairman of the ruling party, Irakli Kobakhidze.
In a lawsuit filed with the Constitutional Court, GYLA requests that the boundaries of the majoritarian constituencies established for the self-government elections be declared unconstitutional.
The organization believes that since, for example, the number of voters living in Saburtalo is 2.5 times higher, than the number of voters in Mtatsminda, the weight of Saburtalo voters decreases 2.5 times compared to the weight of Mtatsminda voters because both districts elect one MP in Tbilisi Sakrebulo.
According to Irakli Kobakhidze, questioning the electoral system on the pretext that the majoritarian constituencies are not thoroughly equalized is “complete nonsense”.
The United National Movement has lost all hope of achieving any success in the October 2 elections. “Considering this background, they see the only solution is to create artificial problems and confuse the situation,” Kobakhidze said, adding that the law was passed three months ago on the basis of a broad political consensus and that GYLA had not objected to anything in the process.
GYLA called the accusation of Irakli Kobakhidze "legal nonsense". GYLA Chairperson, Nika Simonishvili said that due to the time and practice given to the court by law, this case will not be substantially resolved before the elections and in the near future, and the subsequent decision by the court will not affect the outcome of these elections, as it did when the old parliamentary majority boundaries were declared unconstitutional.
He also added that the main idea behind their lawsuit is to make sure that every single citizen has the same weight in the elections, adding that GYLA has never had any type of political interest.
In the lawsuit, GYLA argues that the boundaries of the majoritarian constituencies established for local self-government elections violate the principle of equal voting weight, which is why the challenged norms should be declared unconstitutional with regard to suffrage and equal rights.
