The Daily Beat: 20 December

The Central Election Commission (CEC) issued a statement on the recent calls to create ballot boxes for Georgian citizens living abroad and the related petitions, saying they could not have any legal consequences. In its statement, the CEC further clarified that it opens the polling stations abroad only based on the voters’ data provided by the Foreign Ministry. The allied opposition parties Girchi-More Freedom and Droa said that they had been aware of the need for the MFA’s involvement in the process since the beginning of the campaign and that “this is why our compatriots living abroad are sending an appeal not only to the CEC, but also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”. They also pledge to continue the “Ballot Box in Your City” campaign, aiming to encourage more Georgians abroad to vote in the October 2024 parliamentary elections.

In a brief interview with Radio Tavisupleba, the Foreign Minister of Taiwan, Joseph Wu, calls the Georgian authorities to stop ignoring his country and think of a free and democratic Taiwan.  “We do not have any practical, real, meaningful relations with Georgia. We have repeatedly tried [to communicate] with the help of business people or through other channels, but the Georgian authorities do not pay attention to Taiwan. But we will keep trying,” the Taiwanese Foreign Minister told Radio Tavisupleba.

As a sign of solidarity with Lasha Sharukhia, Georgian priests launched a public campaign by releasing a video featuring the demonstrative burning of EU flags. Lasha Sharukhia is sent to detention on the charges of tearing the EU flag from the Mtskheta municipality building and burning it on the spot. This public campaign is also actively supported by openly pro-Russian media outlet Alt-Info. The Interior Ministry pledged to identify all the individuals in the circulating video and take legal measures against them. Since January 2022, Georgia criminalized the desecration of symbols of EU and NATO countries.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) reduced the key financing rate by 0.5 percentage points to 9.5%. According to the NBG, inflation in Georgia continued to decrease more than anticipated, standing at 0,1% in November. In its announcement, the NBG noted that the core inflation rate reached 1.8% in November, also following a downward trajectory, citing external and internal factors.