NGOs criticize amendments to Election Code initiated by ruling GD
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, August 22
Part of the non-governmental organizations operating in Georgia criticizes the amendments to the Election Code that has been initiated by the ruling party Georgian Dream (GD).
The NGOs released a joint statement which said that the draft amendments proposed by the ruling party contain several problematic issues and if adopted, they will have a detrimental effect on the electoral environment ahead of the 2020 elections.
However, they welcome the changes in the political party finance regulation, based on which funding from the State Budget will follow the so-called regressive rule. The organizations say this will help reduce the imbalance in political party financing.
To note, on August 5 and 6, a meeting of the electoral reform working group was held to discuss initiatives prepared by the ruling party about amendments to the Law of Georgia on Political Associations and the Election Code.
The third sector says that regulations related to freedom of expression and media are “especially alarming.”
“A significant part of the proposed amendments leave the impression that they are directed against freedom of expression and place unfair burden on media, which will harm the work of media outlets during the election period,” they say.
Moreover, the NGOs say according to the changes proposed, “hate speech and xenophobia” will be inserted in the Election Code, which determines the kind of text that should not be contained by appeals/statements of political parties, electoral subject candidates, electoral subjects and their supporters.
The organizations believe that such regulation of hate speech conflicts with the high standard of freedom of expression in Georgia.
“Notably, the existing legislation does not define hate speech, meaning that the proposed changes will confuse the meaning of the term, posing the risk of incorrect interpretation,” they say.
In addition to this, the organizations add that the Election Code already contains restrictions on the speech enticing national stifle and enmity, religious or ethnic confrontation.
Another aspect of the amendments to the Election Code, criticized by the third sector is anti-advertisement. The NGOs say under proposed changes, anti-advertising may not exceed 25% of an electoral subject ad clip, adding this limits freedom of expression of political parties.
“Such gross intervention in the existing standard of freedom of expression may not be justified, especially when it comes to political processes and elections,” they say.
The statement reads another problematic issue is that according to the proposed changes, the broadcaster will be responsible for verifying the contents of a political advertisement and not airing the advertisement that violates the legislation.
“Failing to do so, according to the draft, will result in the broadcaster being fined by double the amount of advertisement rate. This regulation will have a chilling effect on media during the election period. The proposed changes place an unfair burden on media outlets on the one hand and on the other hand, they create a risk that a broadcaster will act as a censor,” the NGOs stressed.
The third sector also speaks about the rule of the composition of the election administration. They say the proposed rules fail to address the existing challenges in election administration composition and do not provide any essential improvements to alleviate the dominance of the ruling party in electoral commissions.
The organizations believe it is unfair and unjustified to adopt the proposed regulations. They will affect the pre-election environment and place limitations of freedom of expression deteriorating the existing high standard of free speech in Georgia.
“The changes prepared by the ruling party fail to address recommendations submitted by election observer organizations on such important matters as election administration composition, misuse of administrative resources, electoral disputes, and campaigning regulations,” the statement reads.
The NGOs say it is important to continue working on electoral reform, for the final draft to respond to the existing challenges before initiating in the Parliament and for the legislative changes to ensure that elections are held in an equal and competitive environment.
They also expressed readiness to continue participation in subsequent discussions of the electoral reform.
