EU on election run-offs: well-run, competitive, polarized but serious issues persist
The EU says that shortcomings reported during the first round of Georgian municipal elections have not been addressed and re-emerged during the run-offs. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The EU delegation to Georgia says that the October 30 municipal election run-offs in Georgia were generally well administered, the campaign was competitive, but that serious issues persist with an escalation of ‘negative rhetoric, persistent allegations of intimidation and pressure on voters and sharp imbalances in resources, which benefited the ruling party and tilted the playing field.’
The EU says that the elections were a ‘missed opportunity’ to address the shortcomings reported during the first round of the elections on October 2.
On the contrary, further shortcomings have emerged, especially in terms of misuse of administrative resources and violent rhetoric by Georgia’s political leaders, further fuelling an already deep political polarisation,” said the statement.
The EU has called on all parties to stay engaged in the electoral process, stating that the public trust in its integrity requires an ‘inclusive, credible and transparent’ recount process and ‘fair adjudication’ of complaints and appeals.
The Ambassador of the EU in Georgia, in coordination with EU Heads of Mission, issues the following comments on 31 October 2021, after the second round of the 2021 local elections in Georgia https://t.co/1iovNXJhLK pic.twitter.com/KIzfTf0BCC
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) October 31, 2021
In this regard, the Central Election Commission and the courts have a key responsibility in the days ahead,” said the EU.
The EU delegation expressed hope that genuine efforts will be made by Georgian leaders to build a political climate conducive to meeting the expectations of the citizens of the country.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has won 63 of 64 mayoral constituencies in the first and second round of the elections and received 47% of the vote in the proportional part of the race.
The United National Movement and other opposition parties say that the elections were ‘fabricated’ and announced rallies in regions and a large-rally in capital Tbilisi on November 6 to demand the annulment of the election results.
Georgian opposition leaders have gathered with their supporters in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi to protest the results of the October 30 run-off municipal elections. The opposition, claiming that the election results were fabricated, announced rallies in the cities of Batumi, Kutaisi, and Zugdidi, in addition to the massive demonstration in Tbilisi scheduled for November 7.
A number of ruling party members have reacted to the results of the municipal election run-offs earlier today which have ended with a victory for the Georgian Dream party mayoral candidates in 19 of 20 municipalities.
OSCE/ODIHR and European Parliament (EP) observation missions have assessed Georgian municipal election run-offs held yesterday, stating that the race ‘was generally competitive and organized professionally’, but increasing polarization and negative rhetoric, as well as allegations of voter intimidation and the ‘continuing advantage of incumbency, demonstrated the need for further reforms.
The official results of the Central Election Commission (CEC) for the 2021 municipal election run-offs in Georgia show that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party mayoral candidates have won in 19 municipalities, while the opposition United National Movement (UNM) contender has won in just one. Incumbent Tbilisi mayor and candidate Kakha Kaladze from the GD took 55.6% of the votes over the UNM’s Nika Melia, with 100% of the votes counted.
The United States Embassy to Georgia has stated that electoral reforms made by Georgian politicians earlier this year have increased the transparency of the voting process – emphasising, however, that ‘widespread violations adversely affected the ability of citizens to vote freely’ in local self-government elections in Georgia.
The British Embassy in Georgia has assessed the Georgian municipal elections run-offs as ‘well administered’, but pointed out issues of ‘negative rhetoric’ and ‘pressure on voters.’ The embassy agrees with the OSCE/ODIHR evaluation that the run-offs were competitive, but undermined by ‘deepening polarization.’
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) says that it is ready to lend support to election commission member of Kutaisi No. 90 polling station Iza Chirgadze, who said last week that she was forced by ruling Georgian Dream party representatives to give ballot papers to unregistered voters on the election day on Saturday.
The opposition has won the majority in city assemblies in seven out of 64 municipalities – Batumi, Zugdidi, Martvili, Chkhorotsku, Tsalenjikha, Rustavi and Senaki. GD head Irakli Kobakhidze stated that ‘the majority will be formed on the basis of negotiations with the members of the city councils,’ in municipalities where GD lost the majority, noting that ‘work on the issue has already started successfully.’
The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) will recount the votes of 140 district election commissions, in line with recent legal changes which oblige the CEC to recount a certain number of votes to verify their validity.