'Changes in the policy of CEC chairman elections is another refusal to Charles Michel reform' ISFED director says
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Fair Elections for Georgia's director Nino Dolidze made a statement regarding the changes of the policy of electing the chairman of the Central Election Commission. Dolidze said that Georgian society has already seen the ruling party carrying out reforms based on what is politically profitable for them. She also added that changes in the policy of CEC chairman elections is another refusal to Charles Michel reform.
Nino Dolidze assessed policy changes based on political context a 'problem' adding that it should be calculated for long term perspective:
"At this stage, there were very long discussions regarding the method of electing the chairman of the CEC, and a multi-party agreement was reached during the Charles Michel agreement. The fact that based on consensus an agreement was reached on such an important issue related to the CEC chairman and the election of professional members was very important.
Changing the procedure for electing the chairman of the CEC means, first of all, rejecting Charles Michel's document once again, I hope this will not happen. However, we have repeatedly seen such changes on the part of the ruling team that are favorable to them and fit the specific political context. In general, a very big problem is the frequent changes of the code and legislation. On the other hand, there is a problem with the fact that it is constantly adjusted to the political context and does not count on the long-term perspective. I hope these changes will not be implemented.
"The current selection rule is based on a multi-party discussion in the parliament, an attempt to reach an agreement and negotiations, if it is revised, changed, or worsened, it will obviously not help the process, on the contrary, it will damage it.
Trust of the CEC chairman is crucial for trustworthiness in the elections. The chairman of the Central Election Commission must be elected on the basis of broad multi-party consensus, otherwise questions will arise after every election.
I hope, because they are dissatisfied with the president's decision, such changes will not follow. However, it is not easy to remove the president from this process. I cannot say what can be discussed in the future. Any changes related to election administration staffing should be the subject of a very broad discussion. If any decision is made, it should be a step towards improvement, not towards deterioration.
Instead of constantly revising the legislation, it would be better for the governing team to make efforts to seek consensus and seek a candidate/s who are professional, impartial and have broad public support and trust," said ISFED director Nino Dolidze.
