Bribery, pressure and church interference: ISFED pre-election monitoring report
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, August 5
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has published the II Interim Report on the Pre-Election Monitoring of the 2020 Parliamentary Elections. The survey was conducted from July 5th to August 2nd, 2020.
Interference in the pre-election campaign of the Church; Dismissal on political grounds; Voter bribery; Use of Administrative Resources - such cases were addressed in the report.
Report reads that 8 cases of alleged voter bribery were revealed during the pre-election period. Including alleged bribery of voters in Tsageri, Ambrolauri and Oni on behalf of the incumbent majoritarian MP Gocha Enukidze, who was officially nominated as a majoritarian candidate of the Georgian Dream in the respective constituency. Signs of alleged voter bribery were also revealed in the efforts of opposition parties - Lelo for Georgia and the United National Movement, which carried out social assistance rallies, namely: Lelo for Georgia helped the nursing home in the village of Gldani, and the head of the Khelvachauri municipal organization of United National Movement handed over food products to 2 families.
According to ISFED five cases of dismissal on political grounds were identified in 5 municipalities during the pre-election period. It should be noted that in some municipalities, the dismissal of the mayor's representatives in the administrative units were observed, which is probably related to the goal of conducting the pre-election campaign more effectively and involving the mayor's representatives in this process. Fair election observers detected similar cases in Zugdidi, Martvili, Tkibuli, Chiatura, and Tbilisi municipalities.
Besides that, 2 cases of political discrimination were allegedly identified during the pre-election period. Cases were revealed in Khelvachauri and Khashuri. One of the families in Khashuri links the refusal of assistance from the municipality to political discrimination because the family is not a supporter of the ruling party. Also in Khelvachauri, the mayor's representative in the village of Erge refused to provide social assistance to an elderly citizen during a pandemic and addressed them to the United National Movement for help, as the family is considered a supporter of that party.
Study also found out that high-ranking clerics have been involved in the election campaign, particularly in Marneuli. On July 26 Marneuli and Hujabi Bishop George Jamdelian, said on Sunday service that he would prevent the traitor of national and human interests - Georgian Dream majoritarian candidate, Zaur Dargali from entering the Parliament. In the form of an appeal to the parish, he added that those who stand by Dargali will be held accountable and all of them will have to answer for the souls of their ancestors. Marneuli and Hujab bishop is the high hierarchy of the church and his words are perceived by the population as the position of the church.
Bishop said that Dargali ‘reincarnated Nariman Narimanov, the bloody Soviet cult, the ruiner of our independence and statehood, as well as territorial integrity’. It is noteworthy that the rally demanding the monument to be taken down was held on July 16, where the Bishop delivered a speech. The meeting was also attended by the Primakov Georgian-Russian Community Center of the Russian Foreign Ministry (headed by Dimitri Lortkipanidze) and the leader of the Georgian Idea Party, Levan Chachua. The party Georgian Idea has applied for registration with the CEC for the 2020 parliamentary elections and is currently in the process of registration. “According to media reports, the anti-Western party Georgian Marchwas also present at the rally, but the party leaders deny the information,” stated the organization's study.
