This is 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 their parliamentary lists and their refusal to enter parliament.
According to the CEC, the coalition “Unity – National Movement” received 16 mandates in the new parliament, while “For Change” obtained 19. If a deputy declines their mandate, the next candidate from the party list will take their place in parliament.
“All of us on this list refuse any cooperation with a regime that steals elections and represents the interests of the Russian Federation in our country,” stated Nika Gvaramia, co-chairman of the coalition “For Change.”
The head of “Unity – National Movement,” Tinatin Bokuchava, also confirmed that representatives of her political force are renouncing their mandates and requesting the cancellation of the deputy lists.
“A person has the right to decline a deputy mandate, and we are doing this right today [November 12]. Each of us is sending an official appeal to the CEC,” said Bokuchava.
However, the head of the legal service of the CEC of Georgia, Giorgi Santuriani, stated that at this stage, opposition politicians who publicly refuse to enter parliament cannot be stripped of their mandates.
“Current legislation does not provide for the cancellation of candidate registrations in party lists until the powers of newly elected deputies are recognized,” explained the CEC representative.
According to the legislation, the CEC must submit a list of elected deputies to parliament, after which their powers must be recognized by more than half of the deputies.
Since the CEC is not planning to meet the demands of the opposition coalitions, the process will be moved 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 terminate their powers. Additionally, political parties will need to contact 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 intend to withdraw their electoral lists. However, it remains unclear whether the parties “Strong Georgia” and “Happy – for Georgia” support them.
Earlier, opposition parties and the President of Georgia declared the parliamentary election results to be falsified, did not recognize them, and demanded new elections conducted by an international electoral administration. They also announced daily protest actions.
On October 26, elections for the national parliament took place in Georgia. With 99.9% of the votes counted, the “Georgian Dream” party emerged victorious, remaining in power. It garnered only 53.93% of the voter support.
However, just a day earlier, opposition political forces in Georgia announced that they would not recognize the election results in the country. The results were also not recognized by President Salome Zurabishvili.
Georgian law enforcement opened 47 criminal cases related to possible crimes associated with the parliamentary elections. In particular, charges were brought against two suspects who dropped an entire stack of ballots into a ballot box at one of the precincts.
International observers noted that although Georgian voters had a wide choice among parties, the voting itself was marred by unequal conditions, pressure, and tension.