Ruling party releases video, showing an opposition attack on a family as they ‘refused to host their candidate’
The ruling party says that the family was attacked by former, United National Movement officials in the village of Jikhashkari. Photo: Kvira.ge.
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The election office of the Georgian Dream ruling party in the Zugdidi region of western Georgia has released a video to show how the activists of the United National Movement (UNM) attacked an ordinary family in Zugdidi as they refused to host the opposition mayoral candidate, former first lady Sandra Roelofs.
The family in the village of Jikhashkari refused to host Roelofs as they are the supporters of the Georgian Dream party,”head of the Georgian Dream election headquarters in Zugdidi Irakli Chikovani said.
The video released by the Georgian Dream ruling party election office in Zugdidi.
Chikovani stated that the “attackers” were former officials under the United National Movement government, ex-head of the Constitutional Security Department Ruslan Shamakhia and a member of the united opposition Akaki Minashvili.
We know that it was not the first case of families being attacked. However, in previous cases we did not have the video footage to prove this,” Chikovani said.
Chikovani stated that the ruling party is holding the election campaign peacefully and urged opponents to do so.
He added that the UNM brought people in Zugdidi to stir provocations, as they know they will lose the elections in the first round.
The UNM has not yet responded to the video.
Georgia will hold municipal by-elections on May 19 to elect members of eight city councils (Sakrebulo) and five municipal mayors, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced today. Polls will open for parliamentary by-elections in the district of Mtatsminda, in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on the same day as well.
Polls for parliamentary by-elections will open in the district of Mtatsminda, in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on May 19, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced today. Voting will be held at 31 polling stations, where a total of 43,868 voters are registered.
Two days are left before the May 19 by elections in Tbilisi and the regions, when the public will elect one MP, five mayors and members of eight city councils across the country.
Members of the Georgian Dream ruling party say that the United National Movement (UNM) and its allied parties may prevent people from voting in Zugdidi, in western Georgia, if they send hundreds of their activists there.
Leader of the united opposition, uniting the United National Movement and allied parties, Grigol Vashadze says that 1,400 members of the opposition, 1,000 volunteers and up to 2,000 members of NGOs will be in Zugdidi, in western Georgia, during the May 19 by-elections.
Georgia is going to the polls today to elect a member of parliament, five mayors and members of eight city councils (Sakrebulo) across the country. Polls opened at 8 a.m. this morning for 402,091 eligible voters at 410 polling stations.