On November 10, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Transparency International – Georgia met with members of the Editorial Group working on the Election Code reform. Representatives of political parties in the Editorial Group, as well as other interested individuals involved in the process were also present at the meeting. The event was made possible by support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

The meeting focused on presentation of recommendations and comments elaborated by the three NGOs about the draft Election Code; specifically, issues related to agreement between the political parties, changes proposed by the draft Election Code that were not part of the agreement between the political parties, other problematic issues that are not addressed by the draft Election Code. The meeting also focused on the proposal laid out by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia about changes to the system of funding political parties.

The meeting featured an interesting discussion where opinions of NGOs as well as the ruling party and oppositional parties in the Editorial Group were presented. Some of the recommendations put forward by NGOs were shared by members of the Editorial Group.

Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and Transparency International – Georgia will continue to hold working meetings for discussion of concrete issues pertinent to the Election Code reform.