EurasiaNet Recaps - Will Georgia's Parliamentary Vote Succeed in Consolidating Society?

RECAPS

WILL GEORGIA’S PARLIAMENTARY VOTE SUCCEED IN CONSOLIDATING SOCIETY?

Giga Chikhladze 3/26/04
A EurasiaNet Q&A with CEC Chairman Zurab Chiaberashvili

Georgia will hold parliamentary elections on March 28. The vote is widely anticipated to give President Mikheil Saakashvili the majority support that he seeks. But there are questions over whether the vote will succeed in consolidating Georgian society, thus enhancing Saakashvili’s ability to press ahead with reforms.

For Saakashvili, it is important that the parliamentary vote be free of irregularities, thus enhancing the perception that the next legislature will be an accurate reflection of the popular will. Saakashvili’s ongoing confrontation with Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze is threatening to upset the president’s hopes for a trouble-free vote. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Abashidze has pledged to allow for a free-and-fair election, but his recent actions raise concerns about possible irregularities. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Saakashvili, speaking during a lengthy television interview March 24, expressed hope that the vote in Ajaria will not be a source of controversy. "Ajarians are brave people," Saakashvili said. "I am pinning my hopes on them. They will take part in the elections, and they will express their opinion, regardless of what they are being told by the heads of their village representations, the police and others."

In Batumi, the Ajarian capital, activists from the Democratic Ajaria opposition movement alleged that Abashidze was planning to rig the vote in order to maintain its firm grip on the local political apparatus, the Rustavi-2 television channel reported March 26. Some local opposition supporters have allegedly been threatened with expulsion from Ajaria, according to the Rustavi 2 report.

Saakashvili has sought to portray the parliamentary election as a make-or-break moment for his reform effort. In the March 24 television interview, he urged that the population "mobilize" to vote for the pro-presidential slate. "Georgia has many external and internal enemies," he said. "I do not need a second front behind my back � in parliament."

The president has faced criticism over what some characterize as an exclusionary approach to the vote. These critics point to the fact that parties need to secure at least 7 percent of the overall vote to win seats in the next legislature. This could prevent most political parties critical of Saakashvili’s policies from winning seats, thus leaving the legislature with virtually no opposition. Many argued that the electoral barrier for representation should have been lowered. Saakashvili rejected such a move.

"The forthcoming election is a farce," said Zviad Mukbaniani, the leader of the Party for the Protection of Constitutional Rights. Mukbaniani, a supporter of former president Eduard Shevardnadze, announced March 25 that his party was withdrawing from participation in the election.

EurasiaNet correspondent Giga Chikhladze recently spoke to Georgia’s head of the Central Election commission, Zurab Chiaberashvili, who will oversee the ballot-counting process. Chiaberashvili voiced concern that the election process in Ajaria has already been "compromised." The full text of his comments follows:

EurasiaNet: What do you expect from the election?
Chiaberashvili: I do not make predictions as to what party will or will not overcome the 7-percent barrier. The Central Election Commission is a body devised to conduct elections, and the outcome of the elections depends on the voters. However, I can say that we expect unprecedented voter activity. We organized a serious information campaign not only in Georgian, but also in Russian to encourage voters to turn out to vote.

EurasiaNet: Do you think violations are possible during the elections?
Chiaberashvili: For now, I feel optimistic, and I think that these elections will demonstrate certain progress compared with previous ones. Though the overall assessment of the presidential election [in January] was positive, there were certain shortcomings. But everything went relatively calmly because of the absence of competition. The circumstances now are somewhat different. With a number of political parties participating in elections, you now have competition. These elections should also demonstrate the quality of the election administration. We have been preparing scrupulously, conducting trainings. I think insignificant violations will nevertheless happen, though [wide-scale] falsification of the vote is practically excluded.

EurasiaNet: What is your attitude towards the party-affiliation principle of the election commission’s composition?
Chiaberashvili: A lot depends on who is working in the Central Election Commission, not on his or her party affiliation. Despite the differences in party affiliation, all members of the commissions have worked diligently and effectively. There has been no serious conflict and all decisions have been made in a collegial manner. Regardless of the absence of any negative experience, however, I think we have to move towards the principle of professional "staffing" of electoral commissions. We have prepared a plan for electoral administration development. ... We intend to train many more people than we need in order to choose the best

EurasiaNet: To what extent will the elections in Ajaria be conducted in a democratic way?
Chiaberashvili: As I often repeat, the electoral process does not just include election day itself. It includes a complicated pre-electoral period, the day of the elections and a period of counting the votes during a certain designated time period. The nature of the pre-election period in Ajaria was such that even if the voting process itself goes smoothly ... it will not reverse the overall perception of the elections being compromised. Already the elections in Ajaria cannot be classified as normal, just and free. This is because of what has been going on there recently. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive] ... Moreover, Ajaria’s state of emergency still has not been lifted. ... We can only hope that at least on the day of the elections everything will go smoothly, and we do not end up having to annul the Ajarian elections.

EurasiaNet: How many voters are registered in Ajaria?
Chiaberashvili: Just over 100,000 voters. However, any voter coming to the polling station on the election day is welcome to register and cast his or her ballot.

EurasiaNet: To what extent the election fraud is possible in Ajaria?
Chiaberashvili: I agree with those saying that to conduct a vote fairly you need first to have a political will. The logistical aspect is of a secondary importance. No matter how well the elections are prepared, if you do not have political will to conduct the vote fairly, you will be able to rig the most ideally organized elections. In the event that gunmen come to a district election commission, and proceed to stuff boxes with scores of filled-out ballots, there is little that anyone can do to interfere. I think that Georgia’s central authority wishes to hold fair elections, you can judge it by a number of factors. It remains to be seen whether the Ajaria autonomous republic leadership wishes the same thing on March 28.

EurasiaNet: How fast the elections results will be delivered?
Chiaberashvili: The preliminary results will be known in three or four days. The final figures, I think, will come up by Saturday [April 3]. However, this [timeline] will occur in the event Ajaria decides not to delay the whole process. And you cannot rule out this [a possibility of a delay].

Editor�s Note: Giga Chikladze is an independent journalist based in Tbilisi.

The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues.

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