Vagueness around the mayoral candidate’s mother
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Monday, June 23
The video concerning the violations at the N97 polling station in the village of Koki in the Zugdidi Region, was released by member of the United National Movement (UNM), Zurab Tchiaberashvili on June 19.
According to Tchiaberashvili, the video depicts the Georgian Dream (GD) candidate on the mayor’s post in Tbilisi, Davit Narmania's mother, asking a voter at the precinct to show her a marked ballot paper. “Nora Todua, was forcing people to show her their ballot papers and was agitating people at the election center,” Tchiaberashvili said.
Koki is a village with 643 registered voters. After the election, the Georgian Dream gained victory there. However, the UNM’s candidate received slightly more votes in the race for the majoritarian, single-mandate seat for Sakrebulo.
Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC) Tamar Zhvania stated that the issue would be studied by the Zugdidi body of the CEC. Through the decision made by the body, all the members of the election commission at the precinct were given an administrative fine.
However, the NGOs believe the fact should be investigated deeply. “The video reflects signs of violations, and it should be investigated in detail,” Chairperson of the International Society for Fair Elections (ISFED), Nino Lomjaria said.
Narmania says his mother's actions were caused by her "maternal care". Narmania stressed that he is far from thinking that his mother was breaking the law.
“The single action, which was carried out from her side, is related to her maternal care only and not to any violation of the law, I'm sure,” said Narmania.
As for whether his mother will attend the second round of elections, Narmania said she is a member of the commission and she will decide herself what to do in the future. The coalition members keep repeating that Nora Narmania did not violate the law, as a voter showed her the ballot through his own will without any pressure.
