The army is a neutral institution and any attempts to involve it in political speculations are principally unacceptable, – Archil Omiadze, the press officer of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, said at a briefing today.

According to Archil Omiadze, the former Defense Minister Dimitri Shashkini has released a false information to discredit the Georgian Armed Forces as if military personnel will not have the right to vote on October 28 and tried to prove this false allegation by abolishing special precincts.

“Special precincts existed for a long time before 2016, but almost all parties and observer organizations viewed these types of polling stations as a lever to influence on the elections. Taking into consideration these recommendations, the decision was made and special precincts were abolished in the entire armed forces, except in Afghanistan. Their abolition did not have any negative impact on military servicemen’s right to vote. As a result of the changes, servicemen vote at the place of registration, and those employees whose conditions of service or state of health require being at another place on election day they vote at a polling station near the place of deployment, and some use portable boxes” – Archil Omiadze explained.