This was reported by Jam News and the Georgian service of “Radio Liberty”.
On November 12, representatives of the coalitions “Unity — National Movement” and “For Change” submitted statements regarding the cancellation of deputy lists and their refusal to enter parliament.
According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), in the new parliament, the coalition “Unity — National Movement” received 16 mandates from the election results, while “For Change” received 19. If a deputy refuses their mandate, the next candidate on the party list must take their place in parliament.
“All of us on this list refuse any cooperation with the regime that steals elections and represents the interests of the Russian Federation in our country,” stated Nika Gvaramia, co-chair of the coalition “For Change.”
The head of “Unity — National Movement,” Tinatin Bokuchava, also confirmed that representatives of her political force are declining to accept mandates and are requesting the cancellation of the deputy lists.
“A person has the right to refuse to accept a deputy mandate, and we are doing this right today [November 12]. Each of us is sending an official appeal to the CEC,” Bokuchava said.
However, the head of the legal department of the CEC of Georgia, Giorgi Santuriani, stated that opposition politicians who publicly refuse to enter parliament cannot be stripped of their mandates at this stage.
“Current legislation does not provide for the cancellation of candidate registration in party lists until the powers of the newly elected deputies are recognized,” explained the CEC representative.
According to the law, the CEC must provide the parliament with a list of elected deputies, after which their mandates must be recognized by more than half of the deputies.
Since the CEC does not intend to meet the demands of the opposition coalitions, the process will be transferred to parliament. “Georgian Dream,” which holds 89 mandates, may recognize the powers of all elected deputies, including the opposition, writes Jam News.
Only after this can opposition deputies appeal to parliament to demand the termination of their powers. Additionally, political parties will need to address the CEC to cancel their electoral lists.
According to preliminary data from the CEC of Georgia, four opposition parties will enter the new parliament. Two of them plan to withdraw their electoral lists. However, it is unclear whether the parties “Strong Georgia” and “Happy — for Georgia” support them.
Previously, opposition parties and the President of Georgia declared the results of the parliamentary elections to be falsified, did not recognize them, and demanded new elections conducted by an International Electoral Administration. They also announced daily protests.
On October 26, elections were held in Georgia for the national parliament. After counting 99.9% of the votes, the “Georgian Dream” party, which has been in power, won with only 53.93% of the votes.
However, just a day before, opposition Georgian political forces announced that they would not recognize the election results in the country. The results were not recognized by President Salome Zourabichvili either.
Georgian law enforcement opened 47 criminal cases regarding possible crimes related to the parliamentary elections. In particular, charges were brought against two suspects who dropped a whole stack of ballots into a ballot box at one of the polling stations.
International observers noted that although Georgian voters had a wide choice among parties, the voting itself was marred by unequal conditions, pressure, and tension.