TBILISI, October 3 – Georgia is set to hold nationwide local elections on October 4, with authorities pledging transparency, security, and swift results through the broadest use yet of electronic voting technology. According to Central Election Commission (CEC) chair Giorgi Kalandarishvili, 3,061 polling stations will open across the country, including 2,284 equipped with electronic ballot … Read more
TBILISI, October 2 – A leading opposition candidate in Georgia’s upcoming local elections has accused the city’s leadership of endangering one of Tbilisi’s last major urban forests by failing to secure it against commercial development. Giorgi Sharashidze, a candidate for Tbilisi City Council chairperson with the For Georgia party, said the Digomi Forest Park, a … Read more
TBILISI, October 2 – As Georgia prepares for local elections on October 4, political analyst Aleksandre Tvalchrelidze paints a stark picture of the domestic and international environment. Speaking to Interpressnews, he described the vote as perhaps the most unpopular in the country’s modern history. “The October 4 elections will likely be the most unpopular in … Read more
TBILISI, October 2 – Three of Georgia’s most high-profile non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have announced they will not conduct election monitoring during the country’s local elections on October 4, breaking with decades of practice. Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) said October 2 that it would abstain from observing the vote for the first time in its … Read more
TBILISI, October 2 – Tbilisi City Hall has rejected a request from Paata Burchuladze, founder of the “Rustaveli Avenue” movement, to install four stages in the city center for a mass rally planned on Election Day, October 4. In his application submitted on September 29, Burchuladze asked to place stages at four central sites: Freedom … Read more
As Georgia heads into local elections on October 4, what should have been a routine exercise in self-government has instead become wrapped in national-level polarization, radical rhetoric, and competing visions of the country’s future, according to Ramaz Sakvarelidze, in a recent interview with Interpressnews. “Today there is more polarization and more inadequacy than is typical … Read more
TBILISI, October 1 – Unfortunately, every time I appear before you, the situation in Georgia is getting worse, Tina Bokuchava said today at a gathering of the European People’s Party (EPP) political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Bokuchava, who is one of the leaders of Georgia’s United National Movement (UNM), … Read more
TBILISI, October 1 – Georgia’s Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), one of the country’s most prominent civil society groups, has filed a new complaint with the Constitutional Court against the recently adopted “Law on Grants.” The organization said it is challenging Article 61 of the law, which in September gave the Anti-Corruption Bureau broad authority to … Read more
TBILISI, October 1 – Bidzina Ivanishvili, honorary chairman of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, marked the anniversary of the party’s 2012 election victory with a lengthy statement on October 1, describing it as a defining moment in the country’s modern history. Ivanishvili said October 1, 2012, when Georgian Dream defeated then-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National … Read more
TBILISI, September 27 – Georgia’s election administration has completed the country’s unified voter list ahead of the crucial October 4 municipal elections, Central Election Commission (CEC) spokesperson Natia Ioseliani announced Friday. According to the CEC, a total of 3,513,818 citizens are eligible to vote. Of these, 3,130,348 will cast ballots using electronic technologies, while 777 … Read more