Ruling party MP claims “over half” of registered domestic election monitors “biased”

Givi Mikanadze, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday expressed concerns over impartiality of domestic observer organisations registered to monitor the upcoming October 26 general elections by claiming 26 out of 49 of them exhibited “bias” towards or “direct links” with the domestic opposition.

The lawmaker specifically named several organisations, including the Reforms and Research Group, Georgia’s Future Academy, Election Laboratory, Mishgov Larda, International Network for Civil Development, the European Network of Election Monitoring Organisations, and accused them of “misrepresenting themselves as neutral observers while actively promoting opposition agendas”.

Today, we present information on the local observer organisations registered with the Central Election Commission for the 26 October 2024 elections, as of 25 September. Our aim is to show the public which organisations are directly connected with opposition parties and which ones claim to be neutral yet operate against the ruling party.[ ] Our research indicates that 39 percent of the local organisations are tied to parties such as the United National Movement, Ahali, Lelo, Droa, Strategy Agmashenebeli, and Girchi-More Freedom”, Mikanadze said.

He alleged some of the groups “engage in activities that effectively serve opposition interests, including public agitation against the Government and failing to report on violations committed by opposition entities”.

In order to establish connections with political subjects, the research methodology involved examining the public affiliations of founders, board members, and executive representatives of registered local observer organisations. These connections were identified through membership in political parties and/or statements and donations made in support of these political entities. As for identifying biassed observer organisations, they were singled out based on their public anti-ruling party propaganda and/or the omission of dozens of pre-election violations – which were publicly reported multiple times by the ruling party – in their interim reports, Mikanadze said, while presenting  "evidence-based information about several biassed local observer organisations identified through our research".

• The local observer organisation Reforms and Research Group, registered with the CEC for the parliamentary elections, was founded by Akhali Party General Secretary Tengiz Tevzadze and CEC member from Lelo Giorgi Sioridze. The organisation's board member, Megi Kobakhidze, is the sister of Ana Kobakhidze, a CEC member from the Strategy Aghmashenebeli party, and has donated 2,998 GEL to Strategy Aghmashenebeli. Tengiz Tevzadze has donated 10,000 GEL to the Akhali party, while Giorgi Sioridze has donated 3,680 GEL to Lelo. Furthermore, the organisation was established at the legal address of Ana Kobakhidze, the CEC member from Strategy Aghmashenebeli. It should be noted that the Reforms and Research Group and the organisation 12 Storeys to EU organised the Voice Watcher platform, which claims to conduct neutral election monitoring. However, talk of neutrality is inappropriate when connections to individuals associated with the collective National Movement are evident.
• The next organisation registered with the CEC as a so-called neutral observer is the Georgia’s Future Academy. Aleksandre Zibzibadze is its founder and Governing Board chairman, who is also the former executive director of the Girchi – More Freedom party and the co-founder of the Franklin Club. Aleksandre Zibzibadze is also the director of the Electoral Laboratory organisation, which is likewise registered as an observer for the elections. Both of these organisations include Maria Darchievi as a member of the Governing Board. Under her leadership, the Mishgov Larda organisation has also registered as an observer with the CEC. All three of these organisations are part of the coalition with Nino Lomjaria and Eka Gigauri in the My Voice observer mission.
• The Education Labor Union is yet another so-called neutral observer organisation registered with the CEC. This organisation consists of former CEC employees and is led by Akaki Khuskivadze. He is remembered for circulating false information in favour of the opposition during previous elections. Additionally, Akaki Khuskivadze is a donor to the National Movement, having donated 10,000 GEL. Akaki Khuskivadze has joined the newly established organisation Defend the Elections alongside controversial figures such as former CEC chairmen Levan Tarkhnishvili and Zurab Kharatishvili, as well as former CEC employees Akaki Kobaladze and Vano Burduli. These individuals are conducting training sessions for young people who are united in various newly formed platforms and organisations in support of opposition entities.
• The International Network for Civil Development, led by Shmagi Chokheli, has also registered with the CEC as a local observer organisation. Shmagi Chokheli is known for his support of the National Movement on his personal Facebook page, frequently sharing posts by Political Council member Lasha Parulava and Anti-Corruption Secretary Vasil Urushadze. Shmagi Chokheli is also remembered for his numerous public statements demanding the release of former Minister of Internal Affairs, Vano Merabishvili.
• This is just a fraction of the local observer organisations attempting to mislead the public by posing as neutral while, in reality, being directly connected to political subjects from the radical wing. Additionally, we cannot overlook one international observer organisation that caught our attention during the research. This international organisation is the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), whose chief election expert is the well-known former ISFED Executive Director Elene Nizharadze. This is the person who headed ISFED when the organisation deliberately withheld accurate information on parallel vote counting during the 2020 parliamentary elections, giving the opposition a basis to claim election fraud for six weeks. The ENEMO team also includes Ana Mikeladze, who left the CEC under suspicious circumstances and was noted for her involvement in the so-called “Save Misha” campaign for Mikheil Saakashvili and frequent contacts with Sopho Japaridze. It is also noteworthy that in recent years, ENEMO has involved Nino Rizhamadze in all its election-related activities as a chief analyst and international observer. Nino Rizhamadze worked at ISFED from 2011 to 2022 and is now a member of Nino Lomjaria's Georgia’s European Orbit. Nino Rizhamadze, Elene Nizharadze, and Ana Mikeladze do not shy away from public propaganda against the Georgian Dream, which is clearly evident from their social media profiles."

Mikanadze added it was "obvious that the election monitoring conducted by these organisations would be biased and will have nothing to do with objectivity. 

The MP  urged international monitoring missions to provide “evidence-based assessments” of the organisations, emphasising the need to “avoid relying” on potentially subjective information from what he characterised as partisan groups.

He also added the English version of the said report will be "sent to foreign partners in the coming days".