Page 7 - GEORptJul19

the proportional representation system, "with an electoral threshold of zero, I repeat, zero percent".
Expert in constitutional issues Vakhushti Menabdze, as quoted by civil.ge, said that that a zero threshold referred to the specific formula for counting mandates, when a “de-facto barrier exists anyway”.
He added that in the case of Georgia (with its 155-seat, single-chamber parliament) the threshold is around 0.67% , which means that for each 0.67% of the votes, a party gains one seat in parliament.
The ruling party has already met two demands of protesters – Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze’s resignation and accepting the conduct of parliamentary elections according to the proportional system. Furthermore, Police officers have been held responsible and are being investigated for their actions against protesters when they first gathered on the night of June 20.
Ten law enforcers have been suspended from duty due to possible abuses of power during the June 20-21 rally in central Tbilisi, sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in Georgia and the taking of the speaker’s chair in the parliament by one of them to give a speech, the Georgian Interior Ministry said.
Nonetheless, the wave of protests is unlikely to end until another two demands are met: namely the dismissal of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia and the release of individuals detained during the June 20 rally. Evidence of protesters being blinded by police rubber bullets has surfaced. That alone is likely to keep the street protests alive.
2.3 Russia steps up sanctions against Georgia
Russia has stepped up the rhetoric against the so-called “Russophobic hysteria” displayed by protesters in Georgia but its message remains somewhere between there will be “p ainful consequences if anti-Russian protests are not brought under control ” as warned in an official notice sent to Tbilisi officials and “[Russia is] not imposing sanctions [...] but protecting its citizens”, as communicated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov among others.
The chain of measures announced by Russia against Georgia, starting with a ban on its tourists spending their holidays in Georgia’s mountains or at the Georgian seaside, was triggered by anti-Russian protesters in Tbilisi. They attempted to storm the parliament after a Russian MP took the speaker’s chair for a speech to fellow Orthodox lawmakers from various countries. While the focus of the protests then rather switched to demonstrating against Georgia’s government, Russia continues a level of rhetoric that seems just as disproportionate as the reaction of the Georgian Police, which fired rubber bullets and used tear gas and water cannon against protesters on June 21.
For the time being, a ban on the import of Georgian wine—declared with the justification that it would protect Russians from pesticides found in wine bottles—has been announced. Nonetheless, the move is a “temporary restriction,” according to Peskov, and would be removed “once Georgia returns to a non-Russophobic vector”.
7 GEORGIA Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com