Time in Tbilisi: March 29, 2024 02:19
A total of 66 political parties have registered to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 31.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced earlier today that 12 other parties that applied have been denied registration.
The CEC also stated that now the registered parties must provide their party lists and majoritarian candidates no later than October 1.
Two months ahead of the parliamentary elections President Salome Zurabishvili officially named October 31 as Election Day in Georgia.
The Republican Party, which is the oldest political party in Georgia founded back in 1978, has been denied registration for the October parliamentary elections by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
More than two dozen political groups have successfully registered with the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) to take part in the June 15 municipal elections.
Sixty-eight political parties, which are not represented in the current parliament, have appealed to the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) for registration for the October parliamentary elections.
There are 263 political parties registered in Georgia. However, only 80 of them are active, says Georgia’s State Audit Office.
The United National Movement and nine opposition parties that are members of the Strength is in Unity political movement will nominate former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili as their candidate for the prime minister’s post, announced Chairman of the National Movement Grigol Vashadze.
Political party Lelo, created last year by the co-founders of TBC Bank Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, has the highest support of voters among newly formed parties in Georgia, says the election polls conducted by British company Survation, commissioned by Georgian Rustavi 2 TV channel.
A National Democratic Institute survey predicts 88 per cent of eligible voters will vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections on October 31, noting 59 per cent have not decided yet who they will vote for.
Recent polls by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) have revealed ‘sustained support’ for the government’s management of COVID-19 as well as ‘persistent anxiety over the economy’, saying that these issues ‘are motivating citizens to go to the polls on October 31 and make their voices heard.’
Election polls commissioned by the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi say the ruling Georgian Dream party will receive 25 per cent of votes in the upcoming October 31 parliamentary elections.
Former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fog Rasmussen says that Russia is likely to target the upcoming October 31 parliamentary elections in Georgia. Rasmussen said that the future of Georgia should be decided by Georgians and not by the Kremlin, Europe or America. However, he said that many recent reports have proven that Russia is trying to interfere with Georgia’s democratic development.
The ruling Georgian Dream party received 6,495,650 million GEL in election contributions last month, while the opposition Lelo party, which was founded by co-founders of TBC bank Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, received 1, 312,590 GEL, the State Audit Office reports.
The Election Administration of Georgia has adopted a resolution laying out the sanitary guidelines to be observed when the country will go to the polls in parliamentary elections on October 31. People entering the election centre must first sanitise their hands, and will be obliged to wear face masks. Members of the election commission and observers must undergo thermal screening. However, this rule will not apply to voters.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), an independent not-for-profit NGO, has published its second interim report on social media pre-election monitoring, which identified 66 unofficial, anonymous and false media Facebook pages which have been working during the campaign period to discredit political parties in an organised fashion.