ID cards issued before 2011 were always used for speculation. Some ID cards were issued for life, and therefore, it became difficult to remove them from circulation and replace them. So, we made a decision together with the opposition to annul these ID cards, and everyone who has them can get a new one for free,” said the Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

According to him, the donors of non-governmental organizations need to pay attention to how their taxpayers’ money is spent.

“As for any fraud, that’s pure speculation, and it’s important to give a clear answer to that. We have recently seen once again that International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) tried to discredit electoral processes. We have seen their so-called report regarding an electronic counter that is manipulative and speculative. This raises very serious suspicions that it seems preparations are already underway to discredit the 2024 elections.

I welcome the fact that the CEC has responded comprehensively to the speculations that came from ISFED. I call on ISFED, especially its donors – USAID is its biggest funder, to critically comprehend the mistakes that took place in the 2020 elections on the part of Fair Elections and draw some conclusions from this.

NGO has been involved in such manipulations so many times, it cannot be encouraged every time. I think the responsibility of donors is more important. We take this matter very seriously this time so that donors feel responsible; this is also their international responsibility. Donors are responsible for what their taxpayer money is spent on. I call on them to look into why such manipulative reports are being prepared,” Papuashvili said.