The Georgian President vetoed the amendment adopted by the Parliament in the Election Code, which provides for the abolition of women's quotas. Salome Zurabishvili believes that the abolition of gender quotas is another step backward on the path of Georgia's European integration.
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Parliament approved the amendments to the Election Code in the third and final reading on April 4, with 85 votes to 22. Political parties will no longer be obligated to complete their electoral lists per the requirements of gender quotas.
The initiators of the changes are the members of the oppositional Girchi party, who believe that the abolition of quotas will create equal conditions and that men and women will be equal in rights. "How can canceling privileges be a fight against women," said Aleksandre Rakviashvili in response to criticism.
The amendment is also included in the Law On Political Unions of Citizens. In particular, the provision that offers additional financial incentives to parties due to the inclusion of female candidates in the lists in the appropriate proportion is being abolished.
The President's veto was sent to the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament for consideration, after which it will go to the plenary session. Georgian Dream and Girchi have enough votes to overcome the veto. According to the opinion of the opposition, it is in the interest of the ruling party to find a place in the election list for "local feudal men."
In 2020, Georgian Dream amended the election code, according to which parties were obliged to draw up a party list for the parliamentary elections of October 26, 2024, and the subsequent parliamentary elections until 2028, in such a way that at least one person in every four of the list was a woman. On the initiative of the Georgian Dream, in February 2023, the gender quota rule was extended until 2032. Gender quotas also applied to municipal councils. In particular, at least one out of every three candidates on the party list had to be a woman.
The issue of gender quotas was part of the 9th point of the 12-point recommendations defined by the European Commission for Georgia. At the end of 2023, the European Commission considered it fulfilled.
