President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili vetoed the changes implemented in the “Election Code”, which reduces the 2/3 quorum necessary for making decisions of the CEC to the majority of the full composition. The President’s administration disseminates information about this.
“With the change, the need for consensus between the parties to make decisions in the CEC is canceled and the ruling party has the opportunity to make decisions practically on a single-party basis.
Also, the President signed a package of amendments to the “anti-corruption law”, however, she believes that the presented amendments are facade and fragmented, cannot meet the requirements of the European Commission, one of the 9 conditions for joining the European Union and opening negotiations, which provides for the further promotion of the effectiveness of the anti-corruption bureau’s activities and its institutional strengthening independence and impartiality.
In order to increase the independence of the anti-corruption bureau in the “Georgian Charter”, its systemic reform is proposed: the election of the head by the parliament and the granting of investigative powers to the bureau.
As of today, the head of the bureau is appointed by the Prime Minister, and the bureau is given the authority to carry out a number of measures of special administrative proceedings in relation to election subjects, including the questioning of a natural person, questioning before a magistrate judge; Requesting personal information, including special categories of personal data, which requires even more justification, so that the law is not used selectively and the bureau does not become a punitive tool against the parties in the hands of the government,” the information says.
