Watchdog Says Minister, Mayor Violated Election Law

Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava and Minister for Refugees and Accommodation Koba Subeliani have violated the election code by taking the lead in presidential hopeful Mikheil Saakashvili’s re-election campaign, Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) said on December 4.

The criticism follows Saakashvili’s November 28 meeting with a group of Abkhaz internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Tbilisi Municipality building. Both the mayor and the minister, who attended the meeting, were told by Saakashvili on live TV to hand over state-owned property to IDP occupants.

In a letter sent to the Central Election Commission, GYLA said that both officials should, in accordance with the law,  be given a fine of up to GEL 2,000. GYLA alleges that both men violated the Georgian election code, which prohibits public officials from participating in an election campaign while performing their public duties. The CEC said it would consider the appeal.

The authorities, however, have dismissed the allegations. MP Levan Bezhashvili, a member of the ruling party and chairman of the parliamentary committee for legal issues, told Mze TV on December 4 that the relevant election code provision didn’t apply to what he called “political public officials”, “like ministers or mayors.”