CEC Chair Revokes Registration of Industrialists and Our Homeland Election Bloc

Chairperson of the Central Election Commission, Tamar Zhvania, has revoked registration of an election bloc, uniting Industrialists and Our Homeland parties, citing that the bloc has missed the deadline for submitting its party list of MP candidates.
 
Industrialist Party, led by MP Gogi Topadze, is a former partner of GDDG ruling party in now dissolved GD coalition. Our Homeland is led by Zviad Chitishvili, who has dual citizenship of Georgia and Russia and has businesses in Russia; one of his pre-election promises is distribution of Russian passports for Georgian citizens willing to become dual Russia-Georgian citizens. The party held several protest rallies outside opposition UNM party offices, burning effigies of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.

According to the Central Election Commission the bloc submitted registration papers before the deadline expired at 6pm local time on September 8, but documents lacked party list of MP candidates, which was submitted only after the deadline expired.

The election bloc of Industrialists and Our Homeland, acknowledged having certain “technical shortcomings” in the process of submitting registration papers, but denies missing the deadline.

“She [CEC chair Tamar Zhvania] had no legal ground to revoke our registration,” MP Zurab Tkemaladze of the Industrialist Party said.

The bloc is expected to dispute CEC chairperson’s decision in the Tbilisi City Court.