Andorra Government Rejects Electoral Reform Proposal Over Stability Fears

The Andorran government has issued a formal negative assessment of a qualified law proposal from the Concordia parliamentary group to reform the electoral system in parish constituencies, warning that open-list proportional representation could lead to excessive fragmentation in the General Council and threaten political stability.

Published today in the General Council's bulletin, the executive's opinion addresses Concordia's tenth legislative initiative this term, tabled nearly a month ago by leader Cerni Escalé. The proposal seeks to amend Qualified Law 44/2022 on elections and referendums by replacing the current single-round simple majority system with proportional representation using single-nominal candidacies in the seven parishes' multi-member districts. It would eliminate signature requirements for candidacies, adjust gender parity rules to allow individual voter choices over closed lists, and aim to increase turnout, improve representation, and reduce abstention.

The government acknowledges the proposal's constitutional alignment—preserving dual constituencies, parity between them, and equal rights for all councillors—while praising Concordia's rigorous analysis and its value in sparking debate. It concedes the model could significantly empower voters in parish decisions but deems the open-list approach "radical," as combining single-nominal candidacies with multi-member requirements invites vote-splitting and candidate proliferation, particularly with lowered signature thresholds.

In Andorra's context of weakly institutionalized parties, officials argue this could favour independents or local personalities over structured groups, blurring party lines, weakening national policy discussions, and spilling fragmentation into the national constituency. Elected councillors might secure seats with minimal vote shares, risking a parliament of loosely aligned figures detached from broader political projects. The assessment highlights scant academic evidence linking open lists to higher turnout and notes the curious omission of similar voter preference options for the national list, which could fit without such side effects.

Further concerns include the lack of substitutes for territorial councillors joining the executive, potentially collapsing parliamentary majorities and breaching constitutional equality between territorial and national representatives—a "politically inadequate" flaw. While low turnout erodes democracy, the government stresses that instability from fragmentation harms it even more, potentially fostering sterile confrontations over stable majorities, despite possibilities for consensual coalitions.

Defending the current hybrid system, strengthened by 2022 reforms, the executive insists it balances representation and governability. It views Concordia's changes as too sweeping without prior broad technical, political, and institutional consensus, but welcomes ongoing rigorous discussion as groundwork for any future reforms.