Nodar Papukashvili, a Doctor of Law and rector of Tbilisi Open University, has recently made a statement that Georgian Journal felt compelled to present to our readers in full:

“Possible abolishment of a majoritarian election system can hardly be interpreted as a step forward. Discussions on whether a hybrid election system is good or bad closely resemble discussions on whether a presidential or parliamentary rule is better for a country. A majoritarian system must not be sacrificed to one party’s desire to have more representation in the Parliament, despite having low ratings and low chance of winning in the elections. The fact that an average voter has no idea what a majoritarian system is hardly makes for an argument in favor doing away with it, since the average voter of is even less likely to know the face of an MP behind the party that they voted for in their electoral district.

The worst thing about all this is that we have failed to properly adopt any constitutional institution whatsoever. We have implemented every model of constitutional rule possible, yet have encountered problems caused by our own unconstitutional, purely Georgian interjections at every turn.

The same is true for the acting hybrid election system. The problem does not lie in a proportional system existing alongside the majoritarian one. The problem is that we lack any real legislative mechanism that would force the majority to perform their legal obligations. I agree with the fact that we need to do away with gerrymandering and change the election geography, but in our current Georgian reality, all this requires a careful thinking through. It would be very unfortunate if we ended up making a haphazard decision of doing away with the entire system altogether.

Thus, if someone wants to completely shake up the election system due to several irresponsible and/or indifferent members of the majority, he or she had better come up with some imperative mandate or eligibility criteria that would guarantee that no wealthy inpidual would ever become a majoritarian deputy in an electoral district or even as much as desire to become one.”

Author: Nodar Papukashvili