On the 5th day after Georgia’s parliamentary elections, the European Commission published the 2024 Enlargement Package on the alignment of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova with the European Union acquis saying, “The reported weaknesses include i.a. the recent legislative amendments to the election process, frequent compromises on vote secrecy, procedural inconsistencies, intimidation and pressure on voters that negatively impacted public trust in the process. These preliminary findings confirm the need for a comprehensive electoral reform that was already highlighted in past key recommendations.”
High Representative / Vice President Josep Borrell said during a Wednesday press point in Brussels that the EU expects “the Georgian bodies, the Central Election Commission of Georgia and the relevant authorities to investigate these irregularities, which have been reported by the observers. ”
In response to Borrell’s remark that “Independent observers have not declared elections to be free and fair nor the country so we are in a zone that requires investigation,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said, “The OSCE/ODIHR does not evaluate the elections with the terms “free and fair” to consider the elections successful.”
In a Facebook post, Papuashvili stated that “the opposition circulated this very disinformation in 2020, but eventually had to refute it.” “Everyone, inside and outside, should respect the choice of the Georgian people,” the Speaker stated.
In Tbilisi, EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski declared “The Georgian people deserve clarity on what happened in these elections and those irregularities must now be clarified and addressed.”
“The enlargement process is a merit-based process and only if Georgia delivers on the reforms, it will advance on the EU path. There are no secrets and no shortcuts. Georgia’s next government should reverse course, recommit to democratic principles and values if it wants to bring the country closer to the EU. This has to start with full transparency about the electoral process.
The EU’s door remains open for Georgia. I sincerely hope that Georgian authorities will honour the aspirations of the Georgian people who have always supported Georgia’s European path. Please do not lose hope!” Herczynski stated.
After being summoned by the country’s Prosecutor’s Office for questioning as part of the investigation into alleged election fraud, Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili held a press point saying she would be urging the Prosecutor’s Office to do its job and stop holding the President politically accountable… As for the President, she will do her job.”
“You [Prosecutor’s Office] are accountable to the people. The people are demanding that you conduct an immediate investigation. My summoning [to the Prosecutor’s Office] strangely coincides with Dimitri Medvedev’s [Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation] statement.”
The investigating body should have obtained the evidence itself… That’s how it’s done in any normal country,” Zourabichvili declared.
The Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday said that 47 criminal cases are being investigated for alleged crimes committed before and on election day, including the facts of alleged vote rigging, influencing voters’ will, violation of the secrecy of voting, vote buying, obstruction of journalistic work, violation and threats during pre-election agitation, damage and destruction of property. It further stated that persons involved in the suspected offences are being “intensively” called for interrogation.
The Prosecutor’s Office also noted that two individuals were apprehended on the electoral rigging facts that were committed in Marneuli’s 69th precinct.
As the investigation is underway, the opposition unions which overcame the 5 % threshold, announced the second rally next Monday after the President-initiated protest this Monday.
Three opposition unions, Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia, and Unity-National Movement, will rally outside the Georgian parliament on 4 November at 7 p.m., where they plan to detail their action plan to the public. They announced the decision following today’s meeting with Gakharia for Georgia members not present.
Ana Dolidze, a member of Strong Georgia, stated that the opposition’s primary objective is to challenge the legitimacy of the recent elections. “We will continue to collaborate with our partners, as we have been doing for several days, which has already led to non-recognition,” she explained.
The opposition emphasized that the rally would continue “peacefully and effectively.”
