October 15, 2024 - The South Caucasus News - SouthCaucasusNews.com

Two weeks remain before the crucial parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 26. The eagerly awaited elections are being held at a time when Georgian society is at a crossroads between the EU and Russia, with most of the society aspiring to the constitutional objective of achieving Euro-Atlantic integration, but weakened by Russian influence not only from the outside but also from the inside – coming from the ruling power.

While these elections are important in meaning, they are also unique in several other aspects. These will be the first fully-proportional elections in Georgia, as well as the first electronic elections, with about 90% of voters casting their ballots through electronic machines installed at polling stations. The fact that these are the first proportional elections, with a 5% threshold that parties must pass to fill 150 seats of the Parliament, has prompted parties to form coalitions, and the main four contenders to pass the electoral threshold- the three most prominent opposition coalitions, as well as the For Georgia party- have a signed up to the President’s Georgian Charter (Read more about the odds and the context of the elections Here).

The main contenders that have the best chance of passing the threshold among the 19 registered parties, are (more on that Here):

(41) Georgian Dream, current ruling party united with its spinoff political movement People’s Power;
(5) Unity – to Save Georgia, which unites the former ruling United National Movement, plus Strategy Agmashenebeli and various old and new faces;
(4) Coalition for Change, another union of former UNM faces brings together Ahali led by Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia, Girchi – More Freedom led by Zura Japaridze, and Droa led by Elene Khoshtaria;
(9) Strong Georgia, an alliance positioning itself as equidistant from both UNM and GD, is led by Lelo for Georgia and includes For People led by Anna Dolidze, Citizens led by Aleko Elisashvili, and Freedom Square led by Levan Tsutskiridze; and
(25) For Georgia, led by the former GD Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia – another self-positioned “neither UNM nor GD” force, uniting primarily former government officials and MPs who had deserted the Georgian Dream.

The purpose of this live blog, which we are launching with just over two weeks to go and which will replace our regular Election Beat, is to keep you up to date with all the events surrounding the upcoming elections:

ALL TIMES ARE LOCAL

Tuesday, October 15

Opposition Politicians against GD’s “War Banners”

Opposition Unity-UNM members Khatia Dekanoidze and Gigi Ugulava released a video showing them smearing white paint on Georgian Dream banners, which contrast the war in Ukraine with the peace in Georgia offered by the the ruling party.

GD MP and Parliamentary Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze reacted to the incident, saying that Dekanoidze and Ugulava should be held accountable under the criminal article and that by erasing the phrase “No to war” from the banner, they showed that they remained “loyal” to the war.

Monday, October 14

15:30 – Georgian Ministry of Education, Science and Youth Denies Claims of Illegally Collecting Personal Data

The Georgian Ministry of Education, Science and Youth has denied the information spread by President Salome Zurabishvili that personal data of children is being collected in schools for specific purposes.

The Ministry said in its statement that the spreading of such “disinformation” is aimed at discrediting the education system. The Ministry said that asking pupils for updated information about their parents is a routine procedure and that schools regularly update the information in the system, namely parent/legal representative, contact phone number, email address and home address. “We call on specific individuals to refrain from spreading misinformation, which serves to deliberately mislead the public,” the statement said.

President Salome Zurabishvili wrote on her Facebook page that children are asked for their parents’ personal numbers in schools, which is a violation of personal data. The same concern was voiced earlier in the day by the representative of the electoral observation mission “My Voice”, Londa Toloraia.

11:30 – Observation Mission “My Voice” Talks of Government Pressure on Voters

The representative of the electoral observation mission “My Voice”, Londa Toloraia, held a briefing on the violations identified by civil society in the run-up to the elections. Toloraia said that on 12 October, new cases of the use of administrative resources resurfaced in the media through journalistic investigations, whereby civil servants are asked to collect personal data of their family members and themselves, allegedly to pass this information on to the ruling party. She said the special list became known to the media which include information on civil servants (and their family members) from the MoD, MIA, Gardabani Municipality, State Gas and Oil Corporation and others. She said that the information gives rise to reasonable suspicion that there are facts of illegal acquisition and use of data, abuse and excess of official authority and coercive influence on the voters’ will.

She thus called on the Special Investigation Service and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the claims and to make the investigation results public. Toloraia also noted that there are reports of public schools asking students for their parents’ personal information, which she asked the Ministry of Education to explain.

Sunday, October 13

13:12 – ComCom Ruled that Pro-government Media Broke the Law

The Communications Commission upheld the opposition Strong Georgia’s complaint and issued a protocol of administrative violation against pro-government TV channels Imedi and Rustavi 2 for not airing the coalition’s political ad. ComCom also stated that Imedi had violated the law for not publishing the information on its opinion polls. Earlier, Imedi TV announced that it had refused to broadcast the campaign ads of the opposition coalitions in response to the refusal of the opposition-leaning channels to broadcast the ads of the GD.

Unity-UNM Office Vandalized

The opposition Unity-UNM said its office in the Varketili district of Tbilisi had been vandalized. The images show the windows of the office broken and bottles of red paint thrown into the office.

Friday, October 11

Three Opposition-leaning media Fined

The Court fined three opposition-leaning channels – Mtavari TV, Formula TV, and TV Pirveli – GEL 5000 (about USD 1841) each for not airing the ruling Georgian Dream party’s political ads juxtaposing war-torn Ukraine with the peace offered by Georgian Dream. [Read more about the case HERE].

OSCE/ODIHR Issued Interim Report

The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) issued its interim report, assessing the election environment and related developments in the run-up to October 26 parliamentary elections. According to the report “the elections take place in the context of entrenched political polarization, continued political tension, opposition distrust in state institutions and concerns about protection of the right to association and expression.”

15:00 – Savanta Public Opinion Poll Results

Savanta, a British company, released the results of a public opinion poll commissioned by the Media Freedom Fund for Mtavari TV. The survey polled 1,561 randomly selected eligible voters across Georgia, excluding the occupied territories. The margin of error is ±2.48%, with a confidence level of 95%. To the question on which party people would vote if elections were conducted tomorrow, people answered:

Georgian Dream – People’s Power – 36%;
Coalition for Change – 18%;
Unity – National Movement – 14%;
Gakharia – For Georgia – 10%;
Strong Georgia – 8%;
Girchi – 3%;
Georgia’s Patriots Alliance – 3%;
Georgian Labor Party – 2%;
Others – 6%.

13:28 – CEC Decides to Open 7 Additional Precincts

The Central Election Commission made the decision to open 7 additional precincts to accommodate the additional voters registered abroad. The cities were these precincts will be opened are: New York, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Thessaloniki, and Paris. More precincts could also be opened based on the updated data the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide to CEC after all the requests are fully analyzed.

Thursday, October 10

20:50 – CEC: 95,834 Emigrants Will Vote in October 26 Elections

The Central Election Commission reported that according to the data received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of voters with the right to vote abroad is currently 95,834. Previously, the CEC had decided to open 60 precincts in 42 countries, which would accommodate 65,508 expatriates, but now there is a need to open 7 additional precincts in these countries for the additional 30,326 expatriates, taking into account that this number may increase further as the Ministry continues to process the applications received.

This issue will be discussed at the upcoming CEC meeting, along with the issue of not opening a precinct in Israel due to the tense military and political situation there. It’s worth noting that the CEC has already announced that a precinct in Ukraine will not be opened for the same reason.

15:00 – ComCom Allegedly Restricts Gakharia For Georgia’s Free Political Ad Rights

Ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated during a briefing that the Communications Commission is restricting his political parties right to have a free political advertisement air on TV channels. According to the regulations, the political party can have a free advertisement on TV if it received at least 4% support in 5 public opinion polls. The Public Broadcaster of Georgia decided to grant the “For Georgia” party the status of a “qualified subject” on the basis of polls conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the opposition-leaning Formula TV. ComCom fined the Public Broadcaster for this decision and asked Formula TV to provide the documentation used by Edison Research to verify the results.

“I want to address Kakha Bekauri personally, I understand very well that slavery is a very easy and quick way to get rich, but the National Communications Regulatory Commission is an independent agency that should serve the citizens of Georgia, especially in the pre-election period, and do everything to ensure that citizens have an opportunity to make an informed choice and I, Giorgi Gakharia want to warn him that the responsibility will be personalized and no one can escape this responsibility,” emphasized Gakharia.

Background for earlier developments:

08/10/2024 – Campaign Beat: October 1-7
02/10/2024 – Campaign Beat: September 24-30
24/09/2024 – Campaign Beat: September 17-23
17/09/2024 – Campaign Beat: September 10-16
10/09/2024 – Campaign Beat: September 3-9
03/09/2024 – Campaign Beat: August 20 – September 2
20/08/2024 – Campaign Beat: August 6-19
06/08/2024 – Campaign Beat: July 23 – August 5
23/07/2024 – Campaign Beat: July 10-22
10/07/2024 – Campaign Beat: June 25-July 9
25/06/2024 – Campaign Beat: June 10-24
30/04/2024 – Campaign Beat: April 16-30
16/04/2024 – Campaign Beat: March 30-April 15
01/04/2024 – Campaign Beat: March 18-29

Statement from “Neutral Georgia”

The satellite organization of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party, the pro-Russian group “United Neutral Georgia,” is now threatening opposition voters as well. In a published statement, they express their desire to prohibit such voters from participating in the elections. Neutral Georgia refers to opposition-minded citizens as a “sect” and “enemies of the country.”

Opinion: “Any attempt to establish a dictatorship in Georgia would be a farce”

Sociologist: “Ivanashvili wants to overturn the will of the majority.”

“For the past 12 years, two factors have influenced the ‘rootless agents’—external patrons and their sect, meaning the voters.

Given the new political reality, the ‘Georgian Dream’ party, albeit late, firmly states its intention to hold the collective ‘National Movement’ accountable. We believe that achieving this goal will be more difficult as long as this group continues to receive support and vote in elections. Participation in a crime is not only morally wrong but is also a punishable offense under the criminal code!

This time, we must still try to get to the root of the problem and eradicate the evil. The root of the problem, as already noted, is each individual ordinary voter who has supported and revived the metastases of society by bringing together the ‘National Movement,’ the organization states.

According to ‘Neutral Georgia,’ there are about 300,000 such voters.”

“Georgian Dream got hysterical” – Experts assess ruling party’s statement

Georgian experts believe that Georgian Dream’s statement is populism and hypocrisy. According to them, the ruling team needs this only for pre-election publicity, and they won’t even remember it afterward

According to the political council of the ruling party “Georgian Dream,” which was later echoed by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ruling team needs a constitutional majority, including to initiate a legal process whereby “the United National Movement and all its affiliates or successors will be declared unconstitutional.”

In response to a journalist’s question about which parties the ruling party “Georgian Dream” intends to ban, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze provided a clear list: “United National Movement,” “Akhali,” “Girchi,” “Droa,” “Lelo,” and “Gakharia for Georgia.”