Lawsuit against CEC filed in Georgia

On March 2, the initiative group "Union of Free Association" lodged to the Tbilisi City Court a lawsuit against the Central Election Commission (CEC), which had refused to register their question for a referendum.

The members of the initiative group said that in accordance with Article 10 of the Organic Law on Referendum, they had addressed the CEC (it is also the Commission on Referenda) asking to register a question for a referendum on establishment of the unemployment allowance. The question was: "Do you agree that the jobless citizens of Georgia receive unemployment allowances?"

According to the initiative group, the CEC has concluded that the question has no national importance and was not clearly and precisely formulated. For these very reasons the registration of the question was denied, as well as the right of the initiative group to collect the required 200,000 signatures, the "Echo of the Caucasus" reports.

"At the time, when, according to the World Bank, in 2011 the unemployment rate in Georgia was 25 percent, the 'Gruzstat' (National Statistics Agency) says that it is only 16.2 percent. However, social polls indicate that 75.3 percent of the population put unemployment in the first place among the problems; while poverty is the next priority. Moreover, even when the president recognizes the urgency and seriousness of unemployment, the CEC believes that the unemployment allowance has no nationwide importance," the "Georgia-Online" quotes the statement of the initiative group.