The News in Brief
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Prepared by Messenger Staff
My Vote Observer Group Demands Election Fraud Investigation
My Vote, a coalition of Georgian civil society organizations, has called on the Prosecutor's Office to investigate top officials at the Central Election Commission (CEC) for their alleged involvement in election rigging. In a briefing on November 4, My Vote spokesperson Londa Toloraia claimed that CEC leaders Giorgi Kalandarishvili, Giorgi Sharabidze, and Giorgi Javakhishvili played key roles in manipulating election results, violating the Criminal Code.
Toloraia explained that the CEC's ballot-handling process allowed for possible monitoring of voter choices, saying, "The CEC's actions on election day allowed the ruling party to control the will of the voters on a large scale." She highlighted issues like voter ID confiscation, obstacles for independent observers, and multiple votes cast by people linked to the ruling party.
The coalition also raised concerns about polling issues abroad, particularly in areas with high numbers of Georgian migrants, where insufficient resources reportedly slowed the voting process. "This decision played into the hands of the ruling party," Toloraia said.
Toloraia added that she had been summoned by the Prosecutor's Office regarding election fraud allegations. However, she declined to attend, accusing the agency of inaction during the elections. "If the information I provided is really important to this agency (.) I will go to court, where at least one more person will hear how inactive the Prosecutor's Office was during the entire period," she wrote.
Chairman Papuashvili's Briefing Sparks Debate Over Invisibility of Occupied Territories
During a briefing on November 4, Parliament Chairman Shalva Papuashvili vehemently criticized what he described as "disinformation" regarding allegations of election fraud in Georgia. However, the event drew more attention for a controversial display of a map of Georgia that notably omitted the occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, which were nearly invisible to the audience.
The absence of these regions from the official map during a state official's briefing sparked significant public outrage. In response to the backlash, Parliamentary Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze defended the presentation, claiming that the occupied territories were indeed included on the map but displayed in very pale colors that were difficult for the cameras to capture.
"The people without a homeland began to post one after another, trying to overshadow what Shalva Papuashvili had done to them with this briefing," Mdinaradze stated, suggesting that the criticism was an attempt to divert attention from the main message of the briefing. He claimed that journalists in attendance were provided with the presentation, where the occupied territories were visible, albeit in subtle shades.
My Vote Observer Group Demands Election Fraud Investigation
Toloraia explained that the CEC's ballot-handling process allowed for possible monitoring of voter choices, saying, "The CEC's actions on election day allowed the ruling party to control the will of the voters on a large scale." She highlighted issues like voter ID confiscation, obstacles for independent observers, and multiple votes cast by people linked to the ruling party.
The coalition also raised concerns about polling issues abroad, particularly in areas with high numbers of Georgian migrants, where insufficient resources reportedly slowed the voting process. "This decision played into the hands of the ruling party," Toloraia said.
Toloraia added that she had been summoned by the Prosecutor's Office regarding election fraud allegations. However, she declined to attend, accusing the agency of inaction during the elections. "If the information I provided is really important to this agency (.) I will go to court, where at least one more person will hear how inactive the Prosecutor's Office was during the entire period," she wrote.
Chairman Papuashvili's Briefing Sparks Debate Over Invisibility of Occupied Territories
The absence of these regions from the official map during a state official's briefing sparked significant public outrage. In response to the backlash, Parliamentary Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze defended the presentation, claiming that the occupied territories were indeed included on the map but displayed in very pale colors that were difficult for the cameras to capture.
"The people without a homeland began to post one after another, trying to overshadow what Shalva Papuashvili had done to them with this briefing," Mdinaradze stated, suggesting that the criticism was an attempt to divert attention from the main message of the briefing. He claimed that journalists in attendance were provided with the presentation, where the occupied territories were visible, albeit in subtle shades.