Ugulava addresses electoral violations
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Wednesday, June 18
The United National Movement (UNM) released a video tape on June 16, where an unidentified man was dropping bulletins in the election box. The tape length is about 9 minutes, and the man dropped about 150 bulletins.
Ugulava stresses that the person is related to the Georgian Dream (GD). The former mayor also claims that the coalition is still cheating the public.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), Merab Topchishvili, the GD candidate won in the Marneuli region. He removed his candidacy prior to the elections. However, his name on the ballot paper remained. Topchishvili said that he would take the post.
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili stated that Topchishvili should take the post as “locals voted for him and the government should respect the choice. “
The same statement was made by Vice Premier Kakhi Kaladze, who stated that Topchishvili just verbally made the statement about his removal and there was no official documentation.
Responding to Ugulava’s accusations, the Press Speaker of the GD Giorgi Gegetchkori said that the man reflected in the tape released by Ugulava is a relative of the UNM candidate in Marneuli.
“The fact proved our suspicions that the incident was a provocation,” Gegechkori said.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) started an investigation over the case. The head of the MIA press service Nino Giorgobiani said that all who took part in this incident will be strictly punished.
“No matter of their partial belongings,” she added.
The Minister of Interior Affairs Aleksandre Tchikaidze refrained from commenting. According to him, the investigation will reveal the truth.
