Opposition demands Alliance of Patriots of Georgia be banned from October elections due to alleged Kremlin support
Leader of the Alliance of Patroits of Georgia Irma Inashvili visited the Russia-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia on August 18 to give an icon of the Virgin Mary to the Ilori Church of St. George, located in eastern Abkhazia’s Ochamchire District. Photo: Irma Inashvili/Facebook.
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Opposition parties in Georgia demand the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia be prohibited from running in the October parliamentary elections following the release of an investigation of the Dossier Center, which tracks the criminal activities associated with the Kremlin.
The investigation revealed that the Kremlin financially supports politicians Irma Inashvili and David Tarkhan-Mouravi, who are leading the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia in the upcoming elections.
The Dossier Center quoted the secretary of the Russian SVR (Foreign Intelligence Service) General Vladimir Chernov, who heads the president's department for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries.
Elene Khostharia, one of the leaders of European Georgia party and the majoritarian candidate for the Vake district of Tbilisi, has even submitted a statement to the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia today regarding the Kremlin’s financing of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia.
Inashvili denies the allegations. She says that former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and Giga Bokeria (currently one of the leaders of the opposition European Georgia party and a former member of Saakashvili's United National Movement party) ordered this investigation be given to the Dossier Center.
The Dossier Center writes that the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia requested more than $8 million from the Administration of the President of Russia.
Georgian oppositionists have sent a budget for four months of the election campaign to Moscow. They are ready to spend $166,667 on souvenirs alone, and the total expenses are estimated at $8,430,625, which is a huge amount for poor Georgia", says Dossier Center.
According to the Dossier Center, the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia has hired political strategist Sergey Mikheev and the Moscow company POLITSECRETS to promote the party.
A multimillion-dollar pre-election budget has already been formed and campaign videos have been edited, and political strategist Sergey Mikheev and the Moscow company POLITSECRETS have been hired to promote the APG", writes Dossier Center.
Georgian candidates and parties are prohibited from receiving donations from foreign citizens, companies, international and religious organisations, movements, government agencies, as well as from anonymous sponsors in Georgia.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia on October, 31 2020 to elect 150 members of parliament. The parliamentary elections will be held according to the updated electoral system: 120 deputies will be elected according to party lists, and 30 - according to majoritarian districts. In addition, the barrier for a party to enter parliament has been lowered and is now not three, but only one percent.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the united opposition have reached an agreement on holding the upcoming parliamentary elections this October with 120 seats in the legislative body to be distributed via a proportional vote and the remaining 30 via the majoritarian system.
Twenty-three opposition parties in Georgia have signed a memorandum to ensure the integrity of the upcoming October elections.
The Labour Party has announced it will put forward Irakli Okruashvili as the joint opposition candidate in Saburtalo constituency and Zurab Japaridze in the Didube-Chugureti constituency, announces party leader Shalva Natelashvil.
About 30 opposition parties in Georgia have adopted a joint declaration on the upcoming October elections at a meeting held in the office of the Labour Party today.
The Georgian government is ready to charter flights to bring in international observers for the upcoming parliamentary elections that will be held on October 31, says the Chairman of the Parliament, Archil Talakvadze.
Coercion and intimidation of voters or the violation of vote secrecy will become criminally liable in Georgia as part of a series of amendments to the election code proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party. Violation of vote secrecy or coercion of a voter will result in a fine or house arrest for a period from six months to two years or imprisonment for about three years.
Abkhaz Orthodox Church has refused to accept an icon donated by Irma Inashvili, the leader of the Georgian opposition Alliance of Patriots party.
Lasha Sakania, the ‘advisor’ to the de facto leader of the Russia-occuied Abkhazia region of Georgia, has resigned amid controversies over his recent meeting with the opposition party the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia.
One of the leaders of the opposition European Georgia party and a former member of the United National Movement (UNM) party Giga Bokeria predicts voters will punish the UNM this October when the country goes to the polls in parliamentary elections, as 'our citizens do not make mistakes when assessing who is politically immature and irresponsible.’
Ruling party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze has made a statement today regarding the recent scandal surrounding the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia which was found to have received financial support from the Kremlin for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has found that the anti-Turkish ads of the opposition Alliance of Patriots party violate the election code, which says that election program of a political party ‘shall not contain propaganda’ for religious or ethnic confrontation.
Tbilisi City Court has fined opposition Alliance of Patriots of Georgia party 2,000 GEL for violating the election code. Central Election Commission Chairwoman Tamar Zhvania filed an administrative complaint against the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia party on September 10