On the rules that should be followed on Election Day; Mikheil Saakashvili’s candidacy to be nominated on the post of PM
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, September 8
As the elections approach, the Election Administration of Georgia has started to inform the people about the regulation on Election Day, in times of COVID pandemic. At Palitranews evening program, the Chairwoman of Central Election Commission, Tamar Zhvania talked about the rules that voters will have to follow on October 31st.
As Zhvania told Palitranews, persons with COVID infection might not be able to exercise their right to vote, but citizens who are quarantined will be able to participate in the voting. As she said, considering foreign experience, engaging COVID patients in the elections is not possible, however, she believes that the realization of votes of people who are in quarantine should be assured.
Zhvania noted that wearing masks will be mandatory measure for voters as well as observers and election commission members. Voters will not have to undergo thermal screening procedures on Election Day since the arrangement of separate space for people with temperature is not up for discussion due to infrastructural issues.
With the help of the US embassy and USAID, disinfectants will be placed at every station. Also, CEC has decided to hand out individual pens to every voter. Commission members will operate on Election Day with protective shields and gloves so as to avoid infection spread. According to her, the temperature of commission members will be checked before Election Day. In case even one member tests positive for COVID-19, the whole commission will be quarantined, therefore to avoid any complications on Election Day, CEC is working on developing a backup commission, so-called special group.
As for political activities, on September 7th, at the briefing, the Chairman of the National Movement, Grigol Vashadze announced that the United National Movement and the member parties of the Power In Unity will nominate the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili as a candidate of PM’s post. The decision has been made unanimously by the opposition parties.
Vashadze said that using Saakashvili's resources is very important for the state, he should return and be face to face with his people, therefore a decision has been made to unveil his candidacy. As he said, all of the parties within the political coalition Power in Unity supported the nomination of Saakashvili for the post of PM.
Prior to the briefing, the ex-president published a video on social media announcing his comeback and apologizing for the mistakes that had been done during his governance. Later, after the briefing, he published another video regarding his future plans in Georgia. As he stated, he will come to Georgia calmly without turmoil.
As Saakashvili says in the video, the reason for his candidacy for the PM's post is not because he wants to be back to the government.
“I do not miss working in government, I will not be a PM for the full term, but only two years. These two years will be enough to drag the country out of a swamp and develop quickly,” he said.
The news had severe reactions from the ruling party as well as from the opposition. Politicians negatively estimate his candidacy.
One of the leaders of the Freedom-European Georgia, Giga Bokeria told the journalists that the country should not return to where it was during his and Saakashvili’s rule since ‘that is not what Georgia needs,’ Bokeria believes that Saakashvili desires to return to the past, but the country needs turning changes and progress.
The Leader of the Democratic Movement- United Georgia, Nino Burjanadze doubts that Saakashvili will come to Georgia and states that she practically excludes any chance of that. She estimated the nomination of Saakashvili as a candidate for Prime Minister as putting their own party interests higher than taking into account the country’s and united opposition’s interests.
Many of the Ruling party members do not find Saakashvili’s statements and his candidacy serious as there are several considerable obstacles that Saakashvili will have to face. Firstly, he is no longer a Georgian citizen, which means that he is restricted from the right to become a Prime Minister of Georgia. Also, in January 2018, he was sentenced 3 years in prison in absentia for the case of Sandro Girgvliani’s murder and in June 2018, he was sentenced 6 years imprisonment in absentia for beating MP Valeri Gelashvili, accordingly provided that he comes to Georgia, he will face criminal responsibility.
