Parliament elects Central Election Commission head for 6 months
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Tuesday, August 3
The Parliament of Georgia elected Giorgi Kalandarishvili as the new chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) in a fourth vote, receiving 83 votes in favor and 3 against, following the resignation of the body’s former chair Tamar Zhvania in late June. The majority of opposition lawmakers did not attend the session. His opponent, Giorgi Santuriani garnered only 4 votes. Gia Tsatsashvili and Maia Zaridze were elected members of the commission who received 81 votes each, their opponents who had Civil Society Organisation backgrounds, received 8 votes each.
After 3 unsuccessful attempts by Parliament to elect a new chair, Kalandarishvili was elected with a simple majority by Georgian Dream parliamentarians for a 6-month tenure. The distrusting opposition legislators, whose votes were needed for a supermajority, refused to support any of the 2 nominees. Recall that the CEC chair can now only be elected by the Georgian parliament with the Georgian president's nomination, rather than by the CEC itself, as per the amendments envisioned by the EU-mediated April 19 deal between the GD and opposition parties. To be elected for a 5 year-term, a candidate must receive a 2/3 supermajority endorsement in the 2 two votings in the 150-member legislature, or 3/5 support afterward. In the previous 3 votes, none of the candidates received either 100 or 90 votes, therefore the newly elected candidates have been appointed to the posts for six months, instead of five years.
Zhvania's resignation was preceded by electoral amendments proposed by the ruling party and the opposition Citizens party, which were revised in accordance with the EU-mediated agreement that ended the political standoff caused by the 2020 parliamentary elections and then adopted in the Georgian parliament. She has been chairing the Central Election Commission of Georgia since 2013 and resigned to allow the parties to choose a new candidate as part of a “broader political compromise”. Zhvania's resignation has been demanded by the opposition for a long time, accusing her of manipulating the parliamentary elections on October 31, 2020. Both Zhvania and the GD administration denied the claims. Meanwhile, as new rules increased the number of “professional” CEC members from 6 to 8, 2 membership seats became available.
Earlier on July 27, local watchdog Transparency International Georgia accused the Georgian Dream leadership of refusing to elect a new chair and members based on a broader political consensus, citing the parliament's reduction of the 4-week interval between votes to a 1-week interval, in violation of the EU-brokered April 19 agreement. Recall that recently, the Georgian Dream quit the deal on July 28.
NGOs and the majority of opposition political parties did not support Kalandarishvili’s candidacy for the post and expressed their distrust, questioning his independence.
Tamar Kordzaia, an opposition MP said that now, any CEC chairperson in our country will be weak and incompetent. According to her, the candidate presented by Georgian Dream really does not deserve anyone's trust in the current political reality, given the annulment of the April 19 agreement and that’s why her party didn’t participate in the voting.
MP of opposition party Girchi, Iago Khvichia thinks that no chairman can become a guarantee in this situation.
"We must be careful not to find ourselves in the same mess as in the October 31 elections."
According to Khvichia, Georgian Dream nominated its candidate and brazenly climbed in such a way that no one needed consent.
The chairman of the Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze says that CEC is staffed with competent personnel who can conduct self-government elections properly. According to him, everyone can observe upcoming elections, and be reminded that the parliamentary committee that investigated 2020 elections concluded that no systematic problems occurred last year.
“I think that after the annulment of the agreement on April 19, the self-government elections will be held in a much calmer situation than in the previous case, when the opposition tried its best to polarize the situation,” he said.
Irakli Kadagishvili, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedural Issues responded to the opposition’s stance: “The attitude of the opposition, if a person works in the state or other public service, automatically means that he should not deserve trust, it once again shows their attitude towards the state and public service.” According to him, Kalandarishvili is a conscientious and deeply knowledgeable person about the election process.
