During the Saturday evening briefing, President Salome Zurabishvili confirmed her intention to present a composition of technical government before the parliamentary elections. She called on the four main opposition alliances to confirm their commitment to this part of the Georgian Charter.
Some opposition alliances, such as the “Coalition for Change,” welcome and support the President’s proposal for a technical government. However, other signatories of the Georgian Charter are hesitant, stating that discussions about the composition of the future government and the candidate for prime minister should only take place after the elections.
The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) issued its interim report, assessing the election environment and related developments in the run-up to the 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 the protection of the right to association and expression.”
The Central Election Commission decided to open 7 additional precincts to accommodate the additional voters registered abroad. The cities where these precincts will be opened are New York, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Thessaloniki, and Paris. The CEC also reported that according to the Foreign Ministry’s data, the number of voters with the right to vote abroad is currently 95,834.
Shukruti residents have decided to end the almost month-long hunger strike but state that the protest will continue until their demands are met. Shukruti residents made this decision after the ruling Georgian Dream party MP, Rati Ionatamishvili, came to the protesters and offered to mediate with the mining company. The residents of the village of Shukruti have been protesting for six months against the damage caused to their homes by the manganese mining practices of the Chiatura Management Company and Georgian Manganese.
Representatives of the opposition coalition – “Unity – United National Movement” claim that their party office in one of the districts of Tbilisi has been raided. “The incident likely occurred at dawn. When we arrived in the morning, we found the office ransacked, with paint poured and windows broken. The place is filled with debris,” Irakli Nadiradze, the head of the UNM faction in the Tbilisi City Council, said, further adding that the party did not contact the police as they did not expect the Interior Ministry to investigate the incident.