This is a great benefit for all Georgians, - EUAmbassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said after the meeting at the US ambassador's residence.
The US Embassy to Georgia has released the text of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the opposition and the government today.

“The undersigned parties agree to support changes to the election system based on the following draft text of the Constitution’s transitional provision defining the rules for the 2020 Parliamentary Elections.

The elected Parliament shall consist of 120 members elected through the proportional system and 30 members elected through the majoritarian system. The electoral threshold for proportional elections shall be set at 1%.

A capping mechanism will define that no single party that receives less than 40% of the votes cast is allowed to receive a majority of seats in the Parliament. Further caps and provisions will be introduced in the legislation with the am of facilitating a more proportional distribution of mandates relative to the votes received by the parties.

The 30 electoral districts will be drawn in compliance with the relevant ruling of the Georgian Constitutional Court and the Venice Commission recommendation, suggesting that the deviation from the average electorate size of districts should not exceed 15%. Preference should always be given to creating districts within the same region unless the distribution of the electorate requires otherwise. Up to three limited exceptions from the above districting rules can be introduced throughout the country in the interest of encouraging the representation of ethnic minority groups, citizens residing in mountainous regions, or for accommodating particular geographic needs.

The Parliamentary majority will publicly present its proposed mapping of electoral districts, in line with the principles described above, no later than ten days from initiating the constitutional amendments in the Parliament.

Should there be early parliamentary elections between 2020 and 2024, the first such election will be held based on the election system guiding the 2020 elections. Any subsequent elections will be held based on the fully proportional election system as foreseen for the 2024 Parliamentary Elections.

The undersigned party declares full support for the above changes and commits to ensure its affirmative votes in the Parliament to pass the constitutional amendments”, reads the Memorandum of Understanding.