Georgian Soldiers in Iraq, Kosovo Denied Vote

A Central Election Commission (CEC) decision to deny Georgian soldiers serving in Iraq and Kosovo the right to vote in the January 5 presidential election is to be challenged in the courts by the ruling party.

The CEC voted down on December 11 a proposal to allow 2,000 Georgian soldiers in Iraq and Kosovo vote. Six – all opposition appointees – of the 13 CEC members voted against the proposal. Although the ruling party holds a majority of seats – seven – in the CEC, the decision needed a two thirds majority, or nine votes, for approval. Those who voted against cited a Georgian constitutional provision, which stipulates that elections should not be held in war zones.

Presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili’s re-election campaign office criticized the move, claiming it was politically motivated and had nothing to do with legal procedures.

“Yesterday’s decision was made purely to deprive presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili of 2,000 votes, which he would have certainly received, because Mikheil Saakashvili has created the new Georgian army,” Davit Bakradze, the state minister for conflict resolution issues and a Saakashvili campaign spokesman, said on December 12.
 
Bakradze was speaking at a press conference, which was also attended by a group of Georgian soldiers, including Mikheil Kutateladze, an injured Iraq veteran.
“Yesterday these soldiers were deprived of the right to vote and effectively turned into second-class citizens,” Bakradze said.

Six opposition parties – New Rights, Freedom, Republican, Industrialists, Conservatives, Labor – recently won the right to nominate political appointees to the CEC following a ruling party climb-down. The government had been insisting that the CEC be composed of only non-partisan, certified election officials. Despite fears of politicizing the organization, the government backed down as part of a series of compromises made to the opposition following the November protests and unrest. 

“Yesterday’s decision has shown that we were right to have argued against a party-based CEC,” Bakradze said.