Misuse of administrative resources during electoral processes, harassment of opposition party candidates are key challenges, TI reports
By Khatia Bzhalava
Wednesday, September 29
According to the local non-governmental organization Transparency International Georgia’s (TI) Interim report ahead of October 2 local elections, misuse of administrative resources during electoral processes remains a problem for Georgia.
TI’s observation also revealed other key challenges in the election environment, including ineffective investigation of alleged cases of intimidation and dismissal of the employees on political grounds, the politicization of public institutions, harassment of opposition party candidates, and the use of budget programs for parochial party interests.
TI reports that starting from June 2021, there have been reports about alleged politically motivated dismissals from budgetary organizations as well as pressure on the supporters of ex-prime minister Giorgi Gakharia’s party For Georgia.
In August and September, TI Georgia studied several such cases and identified ‘political harassment’ in 17 of them.
The interim report says that various opposition political parties announced alleged cases of pressure used by the State Security Service (SSS).
TI notes that the party For Georgia was notable for a particularly high number of such reports. Representatives of the parties Girchi – More Freedom, the United National Movement (UNM), and Third Force – Strategy Aghmashenebeli have also been subjected to such pressure.
According to the TI, there have been reports that the government representative in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and the regional heads of the SSS and the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance allegedly tasked local businesspeople to make financial contributions to the ruling party.
TI revealed that 87 individuals and five companies from the country's south-eastern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti made donations to the ruling party amounting to a total of GEL714,000 between August 2 -16.
According to the organization, “this amount of donations made from this single geographic area in such a short time is quite unusual and may be considered to be indirect evidence backing the above mentioned reports.”
TI notes that during the reporting period (June 1 to September 25), 10 state programs and initiatives were identified ‘which may be deemed to be electorally-motivated expenses’.
The organization issued the following recommendations:
- During the pre-election period, the investigative bodies should promptly and impartially investigate the cases of alleged violence, pressure, and other signs of crime against the parties involved in the elections;
- The Ministry of Internal Affairs must proactively and promptly publish information regarding the progress and results of the investigation into election-related cases;
- The government should refrain from initiating large-scale social programs shortly ahead of the elections to avoid damaging healthy competition among electoral subjects.
