The president Zourabichvili was guided by 'political motives' when selecting the chairman and membership candidates, CEC statement says
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
According to the statement of the Central Election Commission, the clarification made by the President regarding the selection competition for the Chairman and members of the Central Election Commission indicates that she was guided by political motives when making the decision.
The administration publishes a statement about this, where it is noted that the election administration is an independent institution and it is unfortunate that the evaluation of the activities of this institution and its representatives is not based on objective criteria, but on political motives.
"The decision made by the President of Georgia regarding the competition for the selection of the chairman and members of the CEC became the cause of political insinuations. In particular, from the side of politically interested persons, opinions are heard that the reason for the President's decision may be the political bias of the acting members of the CEC or emphasizing the flawed conduct of the 2021 elections. This harms not only the professional dignity of specific persons participating in the competition, but also the reputation of the election administration as an independent and impartial arbiter.
The clarification made by the president regarding the selection competition for the chairman and members of the CEC indicates that she was guided by political motives when making the decision. The president does not question the professionalism of the active chairman of the CEC, she also appreciates his experience and activities, however, at the same time, she notes that the purpose of his decision, both in the case of the chairman and the members of the CEC, was to reveal candidates selected by a broader political consensus for competitive positions. And this is quite difficult to achieve in the current political situation, when candidates are discredited by completely baseless accusations. All the more so if we take into account that among the candidates presented by the president to the parliament there are still representatives of the election administration. We wish success to our colleagues in the next stage of the competition. We think that submitting their candidacies is another recognition of the election administration and proof that there is no problem with the credibility of the agency.
We would like to emphasize that the election administration is an independent insititution that works in compliance with democratic principles, with a high professional standard, transparently, and it is unfortunate that the evaluation of the activities of this institution and its representatives is not based on objective criteria, but on political motives.
Here we would like to explain to the public that regardless of the decision made by the President regarding the competition, the election administration and its chairman, in accordance with the law, will continue to work as usual. The current chairman, as well as 2 members of the CEC, will perform their duties until their replacements are elected in accordance with the law," the election administration statement reads.
The active chairman of the CEC, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, was not among the candidates presented to the parliament by the president. The President submitted the candidacies of Tamar Alfaidze and Revaz Egadze to the Georgian Parliament for the position of CEC Chairman.
