Parliament Speaker Talakvadze: ‘attacking the election results is in Russia’s interests’
The opposition says it plans to start permanent protests with two demands - the appointment of early elections and the resignation of the Chairman of the CEC Tamar Zhvania. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze says attacking the October 31 parliamentary election results is first of all in Russia’s interests.
Opposition parties state they will not take up their mandates in parliament, claiming the elections were fabricated.
The opposition says if they don’t win the elections, then it is not democratic. Such an approach is absolutely unjustified. Yesterday the public saw a protest rally in front of the Central Election Commission building, during which time citizens were throwing stones at the door in front of the CEC. In any case, the Georgian government will not allow anyone to attack democracy. In Georgia decisions are made by the public only through elections”, said Talakvadze.
Chairperson of the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) Tamar Zhvania met with the diplomatic corps and representatives of international observation missions yesterday to respond to questions about discrepancies at voting stations which have caused controversies.
During the meeting opposition members and activists held a rally in front of the CEC building, accusing Zhvania of supporting the ruling Georgian Dream party ‘fabricate the election.’ They called on Zhvania to resign.
The Georgian Dream government urged the opposition parties to accept the election results in a dignified manner as the elections have international recognition, while 25 local NGOs state the Georgian Dream government has failed to conduct October 31 parliamentary elections in line with democratic standards.
The opposition says it plans to start permanent protests with two demands - the appointment of early elections and the resignation of the Chairman of the CEC Tamar Zhvania.
District election commissions have received 1,561 appeals as of now related to the parliamentary elections held on October 31 in Georgia, said Head of Human Resources Department at the Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Kalandarishvili.
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.
Chairperson of the Georgian Central Election Commision (CEC) Tamar Zhvania met with the diplomatic corps and representatives of international observation missions to respond to questions about discrepancies at voting stations which have caused controversies.
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.
Opposition politicians and their supporters gathered in front of the Adjara government building in the Black Sea town of Batumi to protest the results of the recent parliamentary elections held on October 31. Claiming that the ruling Georgian Dream party has ‘stolen the vote’, the protesters say repeat elections should be held in a fair environment. Protesters first gathered in Batumi yesterday in solidarity with opposition politicians rallying in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Nine people, including the three opposition United Georgia party members, have been detained during the clashes with police at the Saburtalo and Isani district election commissions (DECs) in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Opposition politicians and their supporters have gathered at various DECs in Tbilisi and regions where the election administration is reviewing the election-related appeals.
The trial of 7 people detained during rallies near the buildings of district election commissions is underway at Tbilisi City Court.
The President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) Attila Mesterhazy has issued a statement on the recent political and electoral developments in Georgia, in which he writes that although fundamental freedoms had been respected during the campaign and on election day, there had been several incidents which affected public confidence in parts of the process. He calls on Georgian authorities to investigate all incidents in a transparent and fair manner.
Georgian police have detained two individuals for offering a bribe to the head of the Isani No. 5 district election commission (DEC) on behalf of a political political party, asking him to step down from his position and claim that the recent parliamentary elections were rigged.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has asked the International Society For Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) to present the list of the eight per cent of election districts where, per the NGO, the ballots cast outnumber the signatures of registered voters. ISFED admitted to a mistake in its data of the parallel vote count on the weekend, while the data has been used so far by opposition parties ‘as evidence’ that the ‘elections were fabricated’.
The head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Grigol Vashadze has stated that he has left the party and said that the presence of ‘odious figures’ in the party and attacks on the diplomatic corps and ‘other controversies’ pushed him to resign. Vashadze said in his Facebook post released earlier today that he has done his best as the head of the party since January 2017 to make the party stronger.