Potential CEC Chair Candidates Named

At a meeting with President Saakashvili on January 11, representatives of civil society organizations named more than dozen of potential candidates for Central Election Commission (CEC) chairmanship.

Of these proposed nominations, President Saakashvili will select three candidates and then the opposition members of CEC will have to elect one from those three. This entire process, according to the law, should have been finalized on January 11. But the President requested the Parliament to amend the law and extend deadlines.

President’s spokesperson, Manana Manjgaladze, said later on Monday, that the new deadline for electing the chairperson by CEC opposition members would be January 14 and that the President would nominate three candidates "either tonight or tomorrow". New deadlines have yet to be endorsed by the Parliament.

Various civil society organizations are lobbying for various possible candidates.

Among the potential candidates named by the civil society representatives at the meeting with the President on January 11 are: an incumbent CEC chairman, Levan Tarkhnishvili (he was nominated by think-tank Liberty Institute); a professor at the Ilia Chavchavadze University Davit Aprasidze; a journalist and a host of public TV’s program – Davit Paichadze; Eka Siradze, an executive director of election watchdog International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy ISFED (her nomination is backed by about dozen of organizations); Zurab Tchiaberashvili, Georgia’s ambassador to Council of Europe, who in the past has already served as CEC chair; Otar Sichinava, a judge of the Constitutional Court; Levan Bezhashvili, head of the state audit agency, Chamber of Control; Archil Mikeladze, chairman of central election commission in Adjara Autonomous Republic; Sergo Ratiani, head of Ilia Chavchavadze University’s administration; Kakha Sopromadze, who for years has been with election watchdog ISFED in the past; Zurab Kharatishvili, who was a member of a group within CEC, which was monitoring political parties’ electoral campaign funds in 2008 elections. The list also includes Ramaz Bedianidze; Irakli Kipshidze, formerly with NGO new Generation-new Initiative (nGnI) and a vice-president of Tbilisi-based think-tank New Economic School Gia Jandieri; the latter, however, does not hold an electoral official’s certificate, required for running for the post.

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