OSCE, CoE to Nominate Candidates for CEC Chairman
This weekend the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and th!
e Council of Europe (CoE) will submit to President Shevardnadze a shortlist of candidates for the Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairmanship post for approval.
Spokesman for the Georgian Orthodox Church Giorgi Andriadze, novelist David Turashvili, journalist and former MP Giorgi Targamadze, current chairman of the Central Election Commission Giorgi Zesashvili, member of the Council of Justice Avtandil Demetrashvili, head of the Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights NGO Nana Kakabadze, legal adviser of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy NGO Nugzar Kupreishvili, Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council for Human Rights Issues Rusudan Beridze, MP Vakhtang Khmaladze are some of the names included on the list of 26 candidates, from which the OSCE and the CoE will have to choose several nominees. (Click here for the full list of candidates)
The representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Liviu Bo!ta, and the representative of the Secretary General of the CoE, Plamen Nikolov, arrived in Georgia on August 26 to prepare the shortlist.
“It [the candidate] should be a person with a solid reputation in Georgia, known for honesty and objectivity. It should be a person who is committed to impartiality and committed to transparency in order to earn public trust against the background of suspicion towards the election administration,” Liviu Bota of the OSCE, who worked as the UN Secretary General’s special representative in Georgia in mid 90s, said at a news briefing on August 27.
The OSCE and CoE representatives admitted that it is a great responsibility to nominate the CEC Chairman, who will manage the November 2 parliamentary elections, because it is hard for them to make a choice that will be acceptable to everyone.
“Our work should aim to make proposals that are acceptable, if not for everybody, then at least to the largest segment of Georgian society!
,” said Liviu Bota.. He added that the team is talking their responsibilities very seriously and intend to conduct “the selection in a transparent and objective manner.”
On August 27 OSCE and CoE representatives held a confidential meeting with President Shevardnadze. The next day they held talks with the leaders of the political parties, including the United Democrats, New Rights, Labor and Revival Union.
“There are many persons on the list, who would not be acceptable for us, as they are among the government’s supporters. Giorgi Zesashvili (the current CEC Chairman) is one such candidate,” said Zurab Zhvania after the meeting with the OSCE and CoE representatives.
“It would be very good if the Chairman of the CEC would have a representative from the Georgian Orthodox Church, or at least a foreign expert,” said Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the Labor Party.
It is unknown yet how many nominees will appear on the OSCE-CoE shortlist. Liviu !
Bota says that theoretically it is possible that all 26 candi!
dates will be submitted to the President. “But in this case it would mean that we could not carry out our task in a professional manner,” he added.
According to the law, the President has the right to reject all the candidates proposed by the OSCE and CoE. In this case, the 14-member CEC would have to elect the Chairman, from its members, with two-thirds of the votes.
The OSCE and CoE representatives warn that there is too much at stake for Georgia in the upcoming elections. Plamen Nikolov of the CoE expressed hope that Georgia would not share Armenia’s experience, when international organizations criticized Armenia for large scale ballot fraud during this year’s parliamentary elections.
“These elections would be a signal to the world about the direction in which this country [Georgia] is moving. And this would have an impact on attitude and support [from the international community] for this country,” Liviu Bota said.
In September th!
e OSCE mission will initiate active preparations for the parliamentary elections. The 28-member observer team will be dispatched to Tbilisi in the beginning of September to observe the pre-election developments in the country. The ballots on November 2 will be monitored by 700 foreign observers in total.
By Tea Gularidze, Civil Georgia
