Inter-party developments

On 12 October, the European Georgia opposition party openly declared a war against former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, comparing him with a treacherous character from Game of Thrones - Cersei Lannister. One of the leaders of the European Georgia, Gigi Ugulava, stated that Saakashvili and the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Bidzina Ivavishvili ‘have provided equal efforts’ to hamper the opposition’s coalition ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Ugulava said that Saakashvili only did this to fuel his ambitions after he was rejected for the role of leader of the opposition’s coalition. Ugulava said that the recently released former Prime Minister of Georgia Ivane Merabishvili assisted Saakashvili in dissolving the opposition’s coalition. Ugulava emphasised that the opposition parties’ goal is for the opposition parties to receive more votes than the United National Movement in the elections, that the GD receives less than 40% of votes and that the opposition must not accept Saakashvili’s premiership.  For his part Saakashvili accused European Georgia of not cooperating for ‘common goals.’  

Speaking of Saakashvili, on the same day it was reported that he was attacked by unidentified persons before a meeting with Georgian migrants in Athens. The attack took place in front of the building where the meeting was held. As Saakashvili and his supporters were about to enter the hall, an unidentified man approached the politician from behind and hit him on the head a few times; a brawl ensued. Somebody used tear gas in the fight. Saakashvili declared the incident to be a provocation. 

Merabishvili came also to the attention during the election period, as the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers urged for a more effective investigation to be conducted into his record of detentions. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that while the Kutaisi City Court gave relevant and sufficient reasons when Merabishvili was first placed in pre-trial detention on 21 May 2013, it did not give sufficient reasons for his continued detention when he applied for release on 25 September  2013 and 7 October  2013. The ECHR also found that the predominant purpose of the applicant’s pre-trial detention changed over time: ‘while in the beginning it was for the legitimate purpose of investigating the offences based on reasonable suspicion, the predominant purpose later became the ability to obtain information about Saakashvili’s bank accounts of, and the death in 2005 of the then Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.’  

“In this connection the court found [proof] that at around 1.30 a.m. on 14 December 2013 the applicant was covertly removed from his cell and driven to what he believed was the penitentiary department building in Tbilisi, where he was questioned by the chief public prosecutor and another man about Zhvania’s death and Saakashvili’s bank accounts,” the court said, adding that Merabishvili claimed to have been told by the chief prosecutor that if he provided information he would be allowed to leave Georgia but that if he did not, his detention conditions would worsen and he would not be released until there was a change of government,” the ECHR statement said.

Meanwhile, new tensions between the parties continue to emerge as Georgia’s Vice Parliament Speaker Giorgi Kakhiani stated that Rashad Musaev, supporter of the opposition Lelo for Georgia party, has threatened to kill ruling Georgian Dream party majoritarian candidate Savalan Mirzoev. One of Lelo’s leading figures Badri Japaridze said he is not sure whether Musaev is his party supporter or not, because Lelo for Georgia 'has some 130,000 supporters.’ However, he added that despite a number of attacks on their party supporters, none of the incidents have been investigated.

Reports

The Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) published its second interim report of the long-term observation mission in the country for the 2020 parliamentary elections. The report, prepared by nine regional observers, mentions violations and practices recorded during September. The report covered high-profile cases such as attacks on activists of opposition parties, in particular Lelo, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Labour Party and the United National Movement and a search of the UNM office in Samgori; a clash between supporters of the National Movement and the Georgian Dream in Bolnisi and Marneuli; the illegal refusal to hold campaign rallies and the creation other obstacles. The report also mentioned that requirements to delimit the state and the party have been ignored. Also highlighted were cases of voter bribery and accusations of pressure and harassment against opposition activists.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Georgia published their set of recommendations in order to cope with the heated pre-election situation. The NDI recommended the following:

• Election and law enforcement authorities should swiftly investigate all instances of intimidation and electoral violence, as well as abuse of administrative resources and vote buying, and ensure that timely sanctioning of perpetrators serves to deter such violations in the immediate future
• Political parties and candidates should abide by the law and the Code of Conduct and ensure their supporters do not interfere with the campaign activities of their opponents. Parties should develop internal sanctions and a culture of accountability for violations of conduct commitments.
• Parties should make all efforts possible to provide adequate evidence to substantiate claims of electoral violations, abuse of state resources, or pressure and intimidation, and follow available procedures for seeking redress.
• More concerted efforts are required to ensure a clear separation between party and state, particularly social assistance programmes aimed at mitigating the pandemic’s impact.
• The Central Election Commission, the Interagency Commission for Free and Fair Elections, together with other state actors, must continue to ensure that the implementation of recent legal amendments results in genuine public confidence in their work and the electoral process.
• Citizen observer organisations should adhere to the Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organisations and all stakeholders should respect the purpose of genuine, impartial citizen observation.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) have decided to limit its missions in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to long-term observation based on ‘a shortfall in the number of short-term observers provided by OSCE states due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel and health restrictions.’ OSCE/ODIHR announced that ‘the three missions would continue their work and deliver preliminary assessments of the electoral processes after each election day’.