Opposition, Ruling Party Exchange Accusations

Mutual accusations rife between the opposition and the ruling party three hours after the polls opened.

MP Gigi Tsereteli of the ruling party said that “alarming information” was coming from some polling stations and alleged that representatives of the nine-party opposition bloc tried to thwart electoral process in some of the precincts.

“In particular, [MP] Bezhan Gunava, who is a majoritarian MP candidate in the Marneuli single-mandate constituency [in Kvemo Kartli region] and his supporters broke into the polling station and smashed ballot box there,” he said at a news conference in the ruling party’s election campaign HQ.
 
Davit Bakradze, the leader of the ruling party, said that MP Gunava was “personally involved” in the incident in Marneuli. “I want to call on the law enforcement agencies to curb this type of actions,” he said. “We are extremely concerned with these incidents.”

MP Tsereteli has also alleged that Tina Khidasheli, a majoritarian MP candidate nominated by the Republican Party in the Tbilisi’s Saburtalo single-mandate constituency, tried “to pressurize” members of the precinct election commission number 66 of the Saburtalo district, “which grew into the incident and as far as we know one person has been injured.”

Meanwhile, Davit Gamkrelidze, head of the nine-party opposition bloc’s campaign, alleged that an opposition activist, Geronti Katsia, “was killed at a polling station number 10 in Tsalenjikha [in Samegrelo region] with hunting rifle.” He has claimed that the murder was committed because the man was opposition activist.

Zurab Kachkachishvili, a spokesman of the Central Election Commission, however, has strongly denied that the murder was “related with the elections.” He said that murder was committed “two-three kilometers away from the polling station and it had nothing to do with the elections.” He also claimed that the man, who was killed, was not an opposition activst.

Earlier today Gamkrelidze claimed “grave violations” at eight polling stations of the Sagarejo district and demand annulment of elections there.

The CEC spokesman confirmed that incidents were reported from Sagarejo.

“There has been number of incidents in the Sagarejo district. If there is justified ground that incidents had influenced overall electoral process there, the CEC will take an appropriate decision,” he said. “There is tense situation on some polling station, there are cases of provocations, but I want to call on election commission members not to yield to those provocations and to perform their duties.”