77 in favor, 7 against - Parliament adopts in the first reading the legislative initiative of Fridon Injia, which will allow citizens with non-electronic ID cards to participate in the elections.

In addition, before the voting, the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament, Anri Okhanashvili, offered his opposition colleagues further consultations on the draft law of Fridon Injia and presentation of alternative initiatives.

"To the members of the opposition who question this issue, we propose: There are two weeks until the week of the next plenary sessions, please present alternative ways of solving the issue. If not what Fridon Injia has presented, how will you ensure the resolution of the issue - let's discuss and decide based on that, with what kind of formulation can we support the issue," said Anri Okhanashvili at the plenary session of the Parliament.

According to the current law, only those persons who have electronic identity cards and a passport of a citizen of Georgia have the right to participate in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

As noted in the explanatory card of the draft law submitted by Injia, a citizen of Georgia who has a non-electronic identity card is not able to enjoy the right to vote provided by the Constitution, thereby this limits the constitutional right of tens of thousands of people with Georgian citizenship to participate in the elections and to state their position.

"Elections are a kind of institutional mechanism that brings democracy into action. In order to form a "people's government", the people must participate in politics, the best way to do this is through elections", we read in the explanatory note of the project.

Accordingly, according to the project submitted for consideration in the Parliament, it will be possible to vote in the elections and carry out other relevant procedures with the non-electronic ID card too.

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