NGO claims 4 mayors were pushed into resigning by gov’t, party

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) NGO says the resignation of four mayors in the cities of Kaspi, Terjola, Oni and Kutaisi may have been caused by pressure exerted on them by the central government or the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party. 

All the four elected mayors left their posts in the past two months, just several months before the upcoming parliamentary elections in the autumn.

The cases point to the absence of decentralisation in the country and diminish the role of self governance,” the NGO says. 

The mayors purportedly left the posts of their own will, however, the NGO says that the ‘chain of resignations’ sparks suspicions about internal confrontations in the GD and pressuring the mayors to quit. 

The NGO urged the former mayors to provide further explanations for their resignation and the ruling party to avoid exerting any pressure on elected officials. 

The NGO says that if any officials were pressured to resign due to the possible misuse of power, then the law enforcement agencies must look into the cases.