Month: November 2024
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The Daily Beat: 4 November
On November 5, thousands gathered to protest rigged elections, marching from the Central Train Station Square to Rustaveli Avenue, which was closed for traffic as more and more people arrived. The opposition leaders announced the non-stop protests to demand new elections and announced a threefold plan of action. Prominent Swedish climate activist Greta Tunberg who arrived in Georgia on the morning of November 5, also joined the rally.
Judge Vladimer Khuchua of the Tetritskaro Municipality confirmed that the secrecy of the vote had been violated in the October 26 elections, setting an important precedent for the case. This decision annuls the results of 30 precincts. He is the first judge to rule in favor of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association’s (GYLA) complaint that the secrecy of the ballot had been violated during the elections.
On the Day of Georgian Diplomacy, President Salome Zurabishvili slammed Georgian diplomats for their silence over the “trampling of the longed-for European path” and “steps toward Russia.” “If you don’t dare to resign, to raise your voice, or to express a different opinion, what do you have left? Are you so afraid?” the president addressed Georgian diplomats in a social media post.
In an interview with Palitranews, the Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, expressed his position on the allegedly fraudulent elections in Georgia, saying that his mandate does not cover the assessment of the election legitimacy, and claimed that the opposition refuses to cooperate with him. The Public Defender has often been criticized for his lack of or delayed response to human rights issues. His interview has similarly faced criticism on social media.
At a briefing on November 4, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili railed against what he called “disinformation” about alleged election fraud. However, the briefing attracted more attention not so much for its content, but for the display of a map of Georgia on which the territories of occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali were invisible to the naked eye. Although elections cannot be held in Georgia’s occupied territories, their omission from the official map caused public anger.
My Vote, a local observer mission uniting dozens of Georgian civil society organizations, called on the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the officials of the Central Election Commission’s election administration who, she said, were involved in a large-scale rigging scheme. Londa Toloraia, the representative of the observer mission, accused Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Georgia, and his deputy Giorgi Sharabidze, as well as the Secretary of the CEC, Giorgi Javakhishvili, of playing a key role in forging the Georgian elections.
Londa Toloraia, also claims that she had been summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the investigation into alleged electoral fraud. Toloraia said she agreed to be questioned only in court and refused to go to the Prosecutor’s Office, which she said was “totally inactive” and “did not fulfill its preventive, investigative or supervisory role during the electoral period.”
The Data of the Day
According to the National Statistics Office, Georgia’s annual inflation rate remained low at 0.3% in October 2024. Geostat also reports that monthly, consumer prices increased by 0.3%. The annual inflation rate was primarily driven by price changes in restaurants and hotels (7.6% increase); miscellaneous goods and services (5.8% increase); education (5% increase); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.3% increase); and communication (12.7% decrease).
Greta Thunberg appeared at an anti-government rally in Tbilisi on November 4. “I am here to support the fight for democracy and freedom of the Georgian people,” the Swedish climate activist told RFE/RL. Thousands marched in the streets of the Georgian capital, demanding a rerun of the October 26 parliamentary elections. President Salome Zurabishvili and the opposition believe the polls were rigged. After international observers documented vote buying and double voting, Georgian authorities said they launched investigations into 47 cases of suspected election fraud.