Parliament Speaker claims “foreign interference in electoral process” ahead of parliamentary elections

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday claimed campaigning ahead of the parliamentary elections of October 26 in the country was taking place on a backdrop of “violations” including “foreign interference”.

Papuashvili was responding to the Danish Government-sponsored Festival of Democracy, organised by the non-profit organisation Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy in the city of Telavi in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region on Saturday, where banners demanding release of Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former President of Georgia, were displayed.

The Parliament official said he hoped the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe would include the development in its conclusion.

Unfortunately, the electoral process is taking place amid irregularities. Various types of violations were especially highlighted, including foreign interference in the pre-election process. The example of Denmark is the best example to show this. Radical [political] parties with foreign funding are engaged in campaigning”, he said.

The Speaker claimed organisations tasked with observing the elections were also “involved in election campaigning”, citing meetings held by Transparency International throughout the country, and further added “they are directly campaigning against [the ruling] Georgian Dream [party]”.

Papuashvili stressed the development was a “violation based on the principle of neutrality”.