Local self-government elections a day away
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, October 1
Georgia will hold self-government elections on October 2. The opposition is calling the election a referendum and thinks that if the ruling party fails to get 43% of the vote under the April 19 Agreement, early parliamentary elections will be held. Georgian Dream has left this agreement and states that parliamentary elections will not be held until 2024.
Election observers of the European Parliament, Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, as well as expert teams of the U.S.-funded non-profits, National Democratic Institute (NDI), and International Republican Institute (IRI) arrived in Tbilisi ahead of October 2 local elections.
7 members of the European Parliament will observe the elections. Headed by Michael Gahler (EPP, Germany), the delegation includes lawmakers Miriam Lexmann (EPP, Slovakia), Marina Kaljurand (S&D, Estonia), Katalin Cseh (RE, Hungary), Marketa Gregorova (Greens/EFA, Czech Republic), Jordi Sole (Greens/EFA, Spain), and Anna Fotyga (ECR, Poland).
Kalierand called on all Georgian political parties to respect the peaceful and democratic elections and the assessment to be published by the OSCE/ODIHR. According to Gregorova, the self-government elections are at the level of parliamentary elections because they show whether Georgia is following the European path. According to her, the MEPs are in Georgia to observe whether the manipulations of the previous elections will be repeated.
According to the delegation, the MEPs will meet with the EU Ambassador, the OSCE Leading Group, the Central Election Commission, representatives of political parties, leading NGOs, and the media. The delegation will also meet with the President and Prime Minister of Georgia. As for election day, in order to ensure an effective observation process, they do not name the polling stations where observers will visit.
The CoE Congress delegation consists of 18 observers from 15 countries, headed by David Eray (Switzerland, EPP/CCE, R). The delegation will dispatch 9 teams tomorrow.
Observers are holding preparatory meetings on September 30 – October 1, with CSOs, media, diplomats, and Central Election Commission Chair Giorgi Kalandarishvili.
The delegation, alongside the European Parliament observers and OSCE/ODIHR, will hold a joint press conference after the election day, on October 3, at 15:00.
The experts will meet with government officials, leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream and opposition parties, diplomats, as well as local and international observers. They called on all political parties to uphold democratic principles by participating actively and in good faith during the elections and in the post-election period. But NDI and IRI said the experts will not make further statements before or after the polls. The organizations will publish reports of their electoral assessments several weeks after the elections.
The international community is closely monitoring the ongoing political situation in Georgia, assigning big importance to upcoming polls. The French government has called on Georgian authorities to ensure the holding of the October 2 municipal elections in line with EU standards. The statement was released following the recent meeting of French and Georgian presidents in Paris that said that ‘France, which has stood by Georgia in the most difficult times, will continue supporting the country’s stability and democratic development.’
France says that it will be ‘particularly attentive’ to any attempt which may pose threats to the democratic institutions of Georgia and that Emmanuel Macron will be ‘in close contact’ with the Georgian president to strengthen ties between the countries.
Head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, Tbilisi mayoral candidate Nika Melia says that ‘if almost all international observers say that the elections were held in the full line with the EU and US standards, we will accept the results.’
MEP Marina Kaljurand has stated that Georgian political parties should accept the results of the upcoming municipal elections if the OSCE/ODIHR recognizes the legitimacy of the race. According to her, when the opposition didn’t do so after the 2020 parliamentary election, the country faced a long political tension.
Meanwhile, the Georgian Dream (GD) says that on October 2, the radical opposition is planning provocations and destructive actions. Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the GD, said that "a lot of leaked information about destructive plans is coming from the offices of the UNM."
He named the submission of excessive numbers of complaints to the election administration as the main expected provocations and destructions, in order to artificially increase the number of complaints on the one hand and to create artificial obstacles to the work of the commissions on the other hand. He says it is planned to steal election inventory and documents in some polling stations, artificially cause imbalances by manipulating signatures and taking out ballot papers and create artificial queues at polling stations. He added that the verbal abuse of election commission members, representatives, and observers are planned on election day in order to provoke a physical confrontation.
According to Mdinaradze, the members of the commission appointed by the radical opposition are being instructed not to sign the protocols of the polling stations even if no election violations are registered. “We have information that Batumi mayoral candidate of the UNM, Giorgi Kirtadze, personally held a meeting with members of the election commission and instructed them to disrupt 20+ polling stations.” Mdinaradze named the numbers of those stations as well. Kirtadze explained the accusations with the GD's low rating in Batumi.
On the other hand, UNM has accused GD members and activists of fraudulently depriving their supporters of their identity cards, presenting video footage of that case in Rike, Zugdidi. The opposition party says that in this way the ruling party wants to prevent their supporters from voting and demands the prosecutor's office to launch an investigation. The ruling party simply responded that people mentioned by UNM are not GD members, nor are they involved in the election campaign.
Recall that ex-president, Mikheil Saakashvili, now a Ukrainian official and citizen, currently wanted in Georgia on multiple charges, has announced his return to Tbilisi on the evening of October 2, forcing expectations of turbulence on election weekend. Authorities say he will be arrested because he was found guilty by a Georgian court. Authorities also say they will arrest anyone who obstructs Saakashvili's arrest by law enforcement.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan has commented on Saakashvili’s alleged plan, saying that ‘what Georgia needs now is a peaceful, calm election environment and not political instability and violence.’ She said that elections should improve upon previous political races. Degnan says that improvements are a sign that a country is devoted to democratic development. She repeatedly stressed the importance of a calm environment during the election period, in addition to allowing journalists to work, as it depends on the information provided by them whether citizens will make an informed choice.
MEPs Gregrova and Caliurand believe that ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili's intention to return to Georgia on October 2 will complicate the situation and will not help overcome instability and polarization. MEP Viola Von Cramon has stated that Saakashvili’s return to the country for the October 2 municipal elections ‘will not serve the interests of Georgia,’ noting that it will deepen the crisis and create unnecessary tension.
