Girchi party not to participate in local elections
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, August 10
New Political Center Girchi will not take part in the upcoming October local elections because the party failed to gather 25,000 signatures from their supporters.
On July 31, Girchi submitted 28,000 signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia, which assessed that only 13 were authentic. This means that Girchi was refused by CEC to take part in local elections.
Girchi leader Zurab Japaridze says that it is surprising that the CEC managed to check 28,000 signatures in half a day.
“According to the CEC, they have examined 27,990 signatures in 1 day, which means they examined the authenticity of 1 signature in a second, and this fact shows the absurdity of this procedure,” Japaridze’s statement reads.
Japaridze also explained that none of the signatures submitted by them to the CEC were authentic and says that the work of the CEC raises questions.
“We forged the signatures, as the other parties do, and declared our intention in advance. However, the CEC said the reason for rejecting all signatures but 13 was only technical shortcomings…this once again proves that the CEC performs its duties superficially,” Japaridze stressed.
The Girchi leader says the party will not step aside in the pre-election process and will try to be active for those 7,000 people who support them.
The New Political Center (NPC) was founded by Member of Parliament Zurab Japaridze along with three of his fellow parliamentarians and supporters following their split from the United National Movement in May 2015.
The NPC was from August to September 2016 part of Paata Burchuladze's State for the People election bloc, which they quit just eleven days before the parliamentary elections.
