Ruling Party Offers Free Ferrying of Supporters to Polling Stations

The ruling National Movement party has hired mini-buses to provide free transportation of its supporters to polling stations in Tbilisi on the election day, May 21, the party official said on Tuesday.

Ruling party MP Irakli Kavtaradze said that the move aimed at “helping as many voters to cast their ballots as possible.”

He also said that total of 150 vehicles have been hired.

The ruling party used the same method in the January 5 presidential elections ferrying then presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili’s supporters to the polling stations. The opposition, however, alleged that the Saakashvili campaign was in fact resorting to, what is popularly known, ‘merry-go-round’ voting, whereby an individual casts several ballots in different polling stations.

MP Kavtaradze, however, said that to rule out “speculations” and “misunderstanding” the ruling party was ready to cooperate with all the election stake-holders and was sending them, including election observers number plates of hired mini-buses.

The number plates of 150 vehicles were also posted on the ruling party’s website.