Tag Archives: 2018 Presidential Polls

Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has unveiled the government’s plan for cleaner transportation, which aims at upgrading the country’s public transport system and gradual reduction of use of oil-powered motor vehicles. The transport reform plan was introduced to government officials, lawmakers, experts, and representatives of local and international organizations at an outdoor presentation …

As the ruling party presented its own poll results favoring its own candidate yesterday, the divergence in public opinion poll results came sharply into focus, drawing attention to the use of polling in electioneering. GDDG “internal” Poll The ruling party-endorsed candidate, Salome Zurabishvili, is set to win the October 28 …

The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party politicians claim the opposition wants to “destabilize” the situation ahead of the October 28 presidential elections. The authorities stress the recently released recordings, which implicate senior GDDG in case-fixing and other offenses, are “provocations” plotted by the United National Movement (UNM). Speaking to …

Series of recordings made in prison and involving the former Prosecution Office official, Mirza Subeliani, is developing into a major scandal, affecting the ongoing Presidential campaign, but also bringing into focus what seem to series of flaws in governance by the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG). Below is the summary …

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office called a briefing on October 17 to report that Giorgi Merebashvili, a former senior official of the Interior Ministry’s Department of Constitutional Security (DCS, disbanded in 2012) has been arrested and two other former DCS officials, Levan Kardava and Revaz Shiukashvili, who are already convicted in …

Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, who has emerged as the leading campaigner for the ruling party-endorsed presidential candidate, Salome Zurabishvili, slammed the opposition United National Movement for carrying out a “brainwashing, propaganda campaign.” Kobakhidze made the statement at a press briefing on October 16, a day after Rustavi 2 TV, a national broadcaster …

Mirza Subeliani, a former official in the Prosecutor’s Office, who had implicated senior Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) officials in case-fixing and other criminal offenses, attempted suicide late on October 15, the Penitentiary Service reported on October 16. Who is Mirza Subeliani? Mirza Subeliani, a former employee of the Prosecutor’s Office, was …

Transparency International, a global anti-corruption coalition, released a statement on October 16, condemning the “recent indications of increased state capture in Georgia and verbal attacks on civil society by prominent members of government.” TI stated that as Georgia’s October 28 Presidential Elections are approaching, the organization joins “its Georgian chapter …

President Giorgi Margvelashvili has formally asked the Government to hold a meeting with his participation to deliberate on “effective functioning of state institutions and protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms.” The President made the announcement during his press briefing today. Margvelashvili’s request comes after a set of covert recordings were …

Rustavi 2 TV aired on October 14 a covertly recorded audio tape of what appears to be a conversation of inmate Mirza Subeliani with MP Viktor Japaridze of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Davit Tsukhishvili, a former official in the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons. The recording implicates senior officials in case-fixing …

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced today that the recently-released audio recording implicating high-ranking Georgian Dream officials in case-fixing, was obtained from an employee of the prison facility through coercion. In a statement released on October 15, the Prosecutor’s Office said an inquiry into the recordings was launched on October 12 …

Rustavi 2 TV, one of the two most-watched television stations in Georgia, aired on October 14 a covertly recorded audio tape of what appears to be a conversation of inmate Mirza Subeliani with the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG) MP Viktor Japaridze and Davit Tsukhishvili, a former official in the …

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, George Kent, who is visiting Georgia on October 11-13, said “U.S. is very supportive of Georgia holding a successful election, meeting international standards.” “We understand that elections in every country, including our own are, often times, the moments of heated rhetoric, but …

Three leading Georgian civil society organizations claim municipal authorities in several regions of Georgia are mobilizing supporters for the ruling party-endorsed candidate, Salome Zurabishvili. The CSOs stress this violates the country’s electoral legislation. The organizations, including GYLA, TI and ISFED, say they hold evidence that employees of non-profit legal entities, …

Nine electoral subjects registered for the October 28 presidential elections raised GEL 1,277,515 (USD 485,767) in monetary and non-monetary donations in the period from September 12 through October 2, according to the State Audit Office, an independent body in charge of the political finance monitoring. According to the State Audit …

On October 28, Georgian citizens will elect their fifth president for a six-year term. With the Election Day approaching, Civil.ge continues its weekly election digest, a news compilation covering the presidential campaigns, election procedures and other pre-election developments, as well as the shortcomings reported during the pre-election period. The fourth digest covers …

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) released on October 8 its second interim report on the upcoming presidential elections, highlighting a number of campaign violations identified in the period from September 9 through September 30. Among potential violations documented in the reporting period, the authors enumerate the …

Eight leading Georgian civil society organizations released a joint statement on October 8, condemning Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze’s CSO-related remarks as continuation of ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia’s “aggressive rhetoric” against the civil society sector, and an attempt to “delegitimize” and “discredit” the organizations. The CSOs, including GYLA, TI and ISFED, …

Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, who has emerged as the leading campaigner for the ruling party-endorsed presidential candidate, slammed the director of the opposition-leaning Rustavi 2 TV, Nika Gvaramia, for his “fascist,” and “hysterical” remarks on Salome Zurabishvili. Kobakhidze made the statement at a special press briefing on October 8, three …

A group of fifteen local civil society organizations released a statement on October 4, condemning remarks of the ruling party-endorsed presidential candidate, Salome Zurabishvili, as “xenophobic”. Zurabishvili remarked at a campaign meeting in the Armenian-majority Ninotsminda Municipality of  Samtskhe-Javakheti region, that ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili “granted citizenship to a lot of Turks, …