Lelo, Alliance of Patriots MPs refuse to take up mandates in parliament
Lelo for Georgia says that they will take to the streets with other opposition parties. Photo: Lelo for Georgia press office.
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MPs of the Lelo and Alliance of Patriots opposition parties have refused to take up their mandates in parliament.
Just one opposition party of eight remains which has not announced its intention not to take up its spots in parliament - Aleko Elisashvili's Citizens.
Lelo for Georgia held a special briefing earlier today at which the party leaders said that they will take to the streets with other opposition parties to demand repeat elections.
The Alliance of Patriots said that ‘the elections were fabricated’.
Both parties received four mandates each in the 150-member parliament.
International observers and embassies have stated that the elections were ‘mostly competitive and free.’
- US Embassy welcomes ‘competitive’ Georgian elections, laments ‘deficiencies’
- MEPs of the EU parliament: 'elections were competitive, freedoms were respected'
- Int'l reactions to Georgian parliamentary elections in tweets
- Lithuanian MFA welcomes ‘important step’ of Georgian elections
The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the opposition has failed to accept the election results in a dignified manner.
Ruling party MP Giorgi Kakhiani has urged the opposition ‘to return to the election process as it is the only legal and constitutional way.’
He said that the CEC had received only 450 election complaints and most of them were of a technical nature.
The Georgian Central Election Commission has responded to a report that in eight per cent of polling stations, ballot papers outnumbered voters’ signatures on the list.
The European Georgia opposition party, which has received five mandates in the 150-member parliament, has refused to have its MPs take up their mandates in parliament and participate in the election run-off on November 21 in several majoritarian constituencies.
Unanimous in their demands for repeat elections, the parties which have overcame the mandatory 1% threshold, including the United National Movement, Euroepan Georgia, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Lelo for Georgia, Labour Party and Girchi, accuse the CEC of falsifying elections on behalf of the ruling party.
“Georgia’s parliamentary elections were competitive and, overall, fundamental freedoms were respected”, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in its preliminary statement today.
Deputy Spokesperson of the US Department of State Cale Brown has tweeted that ‘we share OSCE’s assessments’ that Georgian parliamentary elections ‘competitive and fundamental freedoms were respected.’ Most of the Georgian opposition parties claim that the elections were fabricated and have plans to take to the streets on November 8 and demand repeat elections. The ruling Georgian Dream party says that the opposition has failed to accept the election results in a dignified manner.
All eight opposition parties who crossed the one per cent election threshold in the October 31 parliament elections have signed an agreement earlier today not to take up their mandates in parliament. 12 other opposition parties, who were unable to enter the legislative body, also signed the agreement and stated that the elections ‘were not legitimate as they were fabricated.’ All 20 signatory parties have stated that they will continue to fight against the government.
Former President of Georgia, Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili, has urged people to join the opposition rally on November 8 in Tbilisi despite the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
Twenty-five local NGOs, including Transparency International Georgia, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, have said in a joint statement that the Georgian Dream government has failed to conduct October 31 parliamentary elections in line with democratic standards.
Member of opposition party European Georgia Irma Nadirashvili states that the founder and the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili is ‘more dangerous for Georgia than Covid-19,’ responding to the statement of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia that opposition rallies will cause a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.