66 political parties registered for upcoming parliamentary elections
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, September 9
The registration process for political parties for the 2020 parliamentary elections has been completed. The Central Election Commission (CEC) released a statement, according to which the registration process for political parties in Georgia for the October Parliamentary Elections was completed on September 4th.
CEC notes that out of 78 parties that applied for registration, 12 were rejected, and 66 parties have been successfully registered to run for the upcoming elections.
Political parties and electoral blocs are now required to present proportional party lists to the CEC chairperson and majoritarian candidates in electoral districts, before October 1st. Thus the process of reviewing and registering the party lists will begin.
On October 26th the CEC will release final/corrected data on the total number of voters and their breakdown by electoral districts. Election Day is on October 31st.
For November 11th, electoral district commissions will have summarized the results of both majoritarian and proportional polls; results must be submitted to CEC no later than the following day. In case of a repeat vote, the last day for holding it is November 14th. For November 19th – CEC summarizes proportional vote tallies. If needed a second round of elections should be set on November 21st. If not, CEC announces the final results. Runoffs for majoritarian races, if there are any, will be held on November 21st. If the runoffs are held December 10 is the deadline for summarizing final results.
“Our position is that the voters in the quarantine areas should have the opportunity to participate in the elections, but the decision has not been made yet,” CEC spokesperson Ana Mikeladze said at a briefing on September 8. According to her, it is important that the elections are held in a safe environment for health.
According to the new amendments to the election legislation, it is the CEC that makes the decision to hold or not to hold elections in quarantine zones or quarantine areas.
“The fact of involvement of a foreign citizen in the pre-election campaign has not been confirmed yet,” Mikeladze said in response to a question about Mikheil Saakashvili.
The law states that a foreign citizen has no right to participate in the pre-election campaign. As Mikeladze noted, if there is a similar fact, the election administration will act in accordance with the law.
“Since the official start of the election campaign, the involvement of a foreign citizen in it is prohibited by law,” said Elene Nizharadze, Executive Director of ISFED.
Ex-president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili has been nominated as the prime ministerial candidate of the United National Movement and ‘Strength in Unity. As Saakashvili announced, he will arrive in Georgia “in conditions that won’t cause controversy and some kind of unrest” and take the post of the PM for 2 years only.
The former President, deprived of his Georgian nationality, now holds Ukrainian citizenship. In May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed him as the chairman of Ukraine’s Executive Reform Committee. Saakashvili left the country shortly after the end of his second term in 2013. He is wanted on multiple charges in Georgia, which he denies as politically motivated.
Yesterday, Shalva Natelashvili announced that Saakashvili’s candidacy for Prime Minister will not be considered in the global aspect of the opposition consultation format.
