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“Opposition coalition to use force”

Levan Gachechiladze, a leader the nine-party opposition coalition and a candidate for parliament, threatened the use of force if the government impedes opposition efforts to monitor vote-counting after the May 21 elections, Mteli Kvira writes:

According to [Gachechiladze], if opposition representatives are not allowed to take part in counting votes after the elections, the opposition coalition will use force.

“On May 21, illegal President Mikheil Saakashvili’s unbearable regime will come to an end. May 21 will be the day of our great victory, and it should be announced as the day of Georgia’s liberation. I assure you that if after the elections, the [Central Election Commission] does not permit opposition members to participate in the vote-counting process, we will use force. We will not give up,” Gachechiladze said.



“Vakhtang Khmaladze: About five political parties have a chance to surpass the 5 percent electoral barrier!”

Akhali Taoba interviews political analyst Vakhtang Khmaladze, who predicts that five political parties competing in this month’s elections will pass the five percent vote threshold for parliamentary representation:

According to [Khmaladze], election competitors including the [ruling party], the Republican Party, the Labor Party, the [nine-party opposition coalition] and the Christian Democratic Party have a chance to overcome the five percent election barrier [for parliamentary representation]. As for the rest of the political parties, they have less of a chance to get into parliament.

The analyst says that it is hard to say how many seats the parties clearing the vote threshold will win.

“At this point I cannot make any prognosis, as more than two weeks remain until the elections and voters can change their mind during this period,” said Khmaladze.



“People living in rural Georgian to be introduced to election procedures”

Sakartvelos Respublika reports that from May 5–13 the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and the NGO Fair Elections will run a country-wide campaign to train citizens how to vote:

They will visit 27 regional Georgian capitals and brief local voters on election procedures.

Role-playing exercises will also be conducted.

In the campaign, called “Choose the Future—Go to Elections” a mock election day will be held, and voters will do a dry run through all the voting procedures they will encounter on May 21.

The project is carried out with the support of the EU and the UNDP.