The agreement on Georgia’s electoral reform, signed between the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the united opposition at the US Embassy in Tbilisi on March 8 (Ge.usembassy.gov, accessed April 13), appeared to bring some level political peace back to the country. According to the deal, brokered by the United States and European Union, the 150-seat Georgian parliament will be elected this October with a 1 percent threshold; 120 seats will be apportioned via a proportional vote, and 30 will go to winners of single-member majoritarian districts. The GD largely acquiesced, following reprimands from the West. And although the opposition did not entirely renounce its willingness to engage in street protests, the Western-mediated agreement largely brought the political negotiations back inside the parliament. The opposition suspended its five-month boycott of the legislature and took part in voting to facilitate the passing of necessary constitutional amendments requiring a Constitutional Commission (Tabula.ge, March 17).
