CEC Spokesperson Says Election Administration Faces Discrediting Campaign During Briefing
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
The Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC) held a briefing yesterday where the press spokesperson stated that an ongoing campaign is attempting to discredit the election administration.
According to Natia Ioseliani, the CEC spokesperson, they want to respond to the recent surge of groundless accusations, misinformation, and discrediting statements directed at the election administration, which has become particularly prominent over the past two days.
Ioseliani added that the election administration and its representatives have been subjected to frequent attacks by politicians, with allegations being made that the elections in Georgia are being falsified and that CEC is working in the interest of the government. Natia Ioseliani also mentioned that such statements not only discredit specific individuals but also undermine the election process as a whole.
"We would like to respond to another wave of groundless accusations, misinformation and discrediting statements addressed to the election administration, which has become particularly acute in the last 2 days.
The election administration, as well as specific persons representing it, have repeatedly become the object of attacks by politicians, accusations are constantly heard that the elections in the country are being falsified and that the administration is in the interest of the government, although none of them has ever presented the facts confirming the accusations. People who talk about high standards of democracy, unfortunately, forget the presumption of innocence in relation to election administrators, and with their statements, they discredit not only specific individuals but the election process in general," Ioseliani said.
Ioseliani expressed disappointment that the 'discrediting' campaign was initiated by a representative of the election administration of the Lelo party.
According to Ioseliani, it is unfortunate that the successes are being ignored due to political interests and agendas.
"It is especially sad that this time the mentioned campaign started with a statement made by a representative of the election administration who belongs to the Lelo party in the CEC. Any representative of the election administration, and even more so one of the leading persons, knows very well how many resources are spent in order to conduct elections in Georgia with high standards, professionally. They clearly see the advantage of the system, the implementation of which is now the main concern of the election administration. They see the obvious success that the election administration has in this direction and it is sad that all these successes are being ignored because of political interests and agendas," Ioseliani said.
Ioseliani emphasized the importance of noting that the election administration is not involved in the ongoing recruitment process of the election administration within the legislative body. She reminded the public that the CEC is an independent administrative body that operates within its legal authority and is separate from other state entities.
