PACE welcomes Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau's decision to cancel TI Georgia's electoral status
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Wednesday welcomed the Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau's decision to cancel classifying Transparency International Georgia and its Executive Director, Eka Gigauri, as entities with declared electoral goals. Photo: PACE
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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Wednesday welcomed the Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau's decision to cancel classifying Transparency International Georgia and its Executive Director, Eka Gigauri, as entities with declared electoral goals.
The move of the Bureau followed Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s call the previous day to reconsider the restrictions to “prevent external manipulations” in the October 26 general elections.
The PM urged the Bureau to reassess its decision over TI Georgia and other organisations with declared electoral goals, and also called on the body to avoid granting such status to groups that “could be leveraged for external manipulation” ahead of the elections.
Speaking at a press briefing early today, Razhden Kuprashvili, the Bureau Head, claimed the decision was taken in the “national interests”.
No one should be given the opportunity to question the results recorded by the citizens of Georgia in the elections”, the official stressed and claimed his office aimed to “safeguard public trust in the electoral process and, as part of that effort, decided to cancel all previous instructions” targeting Gigauri and her organisation.
The Bureau last week announced it had imposed restrictions on Transparency International Georgia and its Chair, Eka Gigauri, as well as the Vote for Europe movement, its Head Khatuna Lagazidze, and the organisation’s co-founders after classifying the entities as having “declared electoral goals” instead of adopting non-partisan positions with their status.
The Head of the Bureau, said the organisations and their leadership “seek to garner support for specific political parties while simultaneously urging voters to abstain from supporting another party”. The official further asserted the organisations and their leadership were employing a “combination of human and material and technical resources”, including presentations, community meetings, concerts, and production and distribution of video clips, to “achieve their objectives”.