Ombudswoman: 62 employees subjected to various forms of pressure ahead of elections
The pre-election campaign in Georgia started on August 3. Photo: Public Defender's press office.
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The Georgian Public Defender’s Office says that ‘62 employees were subjected to various forms of pressure’ and dozens were dismissed on political grounds ahead of the October 2 municipal elections.
Ombudswoman Nino Lomjaria has called on the Georgian government ‘not to dismiss or instruct the dismissal of employees due to their political views’ and to investigate the alleged cases of such actions.
Public Defender’s Statement on Dismissal of Individuals due to Political Views https://t.co/df6MTRaq8T
— Ombudsman of Georgia (@Ombudsman_Geo) September 1, 2021
The statement also notes that most of these people were somehow connected to former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party which was launched on May 29, 2021.
Giorgi Gakharia resigned from the post on February 18, 2021 due to a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party on the issue of the arrest of United National Movement (UNM) opposition party head Nika Melia.
Melia was charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019 caused by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament and was arrested in June 2019 and released on bail for 30,000 GEL.
Melia violated the conditions of his bail by publicly removing his surveillance bracelet and as a result 40,000 GEL was added to his bail in November 2020 which he refused to pay and therefore was taken back into custody in February 2021.
The GD accused Gakharia and the UNM of planning an alleged coup in February 2021, noting that Gakharia’s resignation ‘was profitable for the UNM.’ Photo: Giorgi Gakharia/Facebook.
Most of them, in a conversation with the representatives of the Public Defender, confirmed pressure and dismissal, and explained the above by kinship, friendship or good relations with members of the party of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia,” the Ombudswoman's statement reads.
The Public Defender’s office reports that these individuals were fired from the Interior Ministry, municipal services, non-commercial legal entities and other public institutions.
The Georgian Ombudsman’s office has sent cases of 34 individuals to Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office and the Interior Ministry ‘for investigation and response.’
Per the survey of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Giorgi Gakharia is the second most liked politician in Georgia after GD’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor, incumbent Kakha Kaladze.
The candidate for Poti mayor, former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, says that the country’s Interior Ministry has not given him a document necessary to register for the race, which confirms that he is not a convicted felon for sexual or narcotics crimes.
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has reported 15 alleged cases of dismissal on political grounds in Georgia in the run up to the October 2 municipal elections. The organisation has also reported several cases of direct or indirect compulsion for the involvement of the educational institutions’ employees in the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s campaign. However, ISFED praised the process of interviewing the candidates for membership of the District Election Commission (DEC) which was broadcast live.
OSCE/ODIHR will send 350 short-term and 30 long-term observers to Georgia for the country’s October 2 municipal elections.
The united opposition candidate for Poti mayor, former Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava, has received a document from the Georgian Interior Ministry allowing him to register for the upcoming October 2 municipal race. He stated two days ago that he could not get a document confirming that he is not a convicted sexual or narcotics felon from the ministry and noted that it was a ‘deliberate campaign’ against him.
Former Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia, who is running for Tbilisi mayor in the upcoming October 2 self-government elections, has accused local TV channel Imedi of political bias and demands to be aired live. Giorgi Gakharia resigned from the post of PM on February 18, 2021 due to a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and soon after in late May launched the For Georgia political party. The GD accused Gakharia of planning an alleged coup together with the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, noting that his resignation ’was profitable for the UNM.’
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia has called on voters to check their personal details on the website voters.cec.gov.ge as the deadline for making changes is 6 p.m. on October 14.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia responded to the non-profit organisation Civil Election Commission’s statement that 683 dead individuals are in electoral voters’ lists in 25 Georgian municipalities and called it ‘disinformation and attempt to mislead citizens.’ The CEC representative Tornike Gigisvanidze stated that it is impossible for an individual to vote instead of a deceased person ‘as the voter is obliged to present the ID (identification document) card at the polling station.’