Salome Zurabishvili to veto new law on nomination of candidates for chairmanship of CEC

Zurabishvili to veto new law

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, will veto a new law on the nomination of candidates for the CEC chairmanship, according to a statement from the President’s administration according to which the President believes that single-party appointments are contrary to statehood and the European future.

“For the third time, the ruling majority is changing the laws because the president did not present the candidates they wanted for specific positions. These are ambassadors, members of the board of the National Bank, chairman and members of the CEC. In all three cases, the President’s principled position derives from state and not personal interests.

When selecting candidates, the President is guided by her degree of independence and impartiality. The President does not question their qualifications, but fundamentally believes that single-party appointments to such positions are contrary to statehood and the European future. Therefore the President will veto this law as well.”

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According to a new initiative of the ruling party, the president will no longer be able to select the candidates for the chairmanship of the CEC — instead, the chairman of the Georgian parliament will have the prerogative to select the candidates and present them to the parliament. The Association of Young Lawyers claims that the government thereby wants to reduce the independence of the CEC by changing the rules of recruitment.

The procedure for electing CEC members is also changing: according to the draft law, seven CEC members are elected by the Parliament of Georgia by the majority of the full composition on the nomination of the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, and no more than 9 CEC members are appointed by the parties according to the procedure established by this law.

Those behind the bill are Mamuka Mdinaradze, Givi Mikanadze, Davit Matikashvili, Rati Yonatamishvili and Irakli Shatakishvili.

According to the draft law, the chairman of the Parliament of Georgia will announce the competition for the selection of the CEC chairman and members, and the competition commission will be created, besides, the presence of the representative of the President of Georgia in the competition commission is guaranteed.