Georgian Election Chief Disputes Opposition Allegations of Fraud

Georgia's Central Election Commission sits at the center of political controversy over the results of the country's November 2 parliamentary election. The official vote-counting process was continuing, with the CEC reporting that ballots from 1,477 of Georgia's 2,870 precincts being counted. The official preliminary results differ markedly from a parallel vote-counting initiative conducted by Fair Elections, a local non-governmental organization. According to the CEC tabulations, the pro-government For a New Georgia bloc received 26.7 percent of the vote, while the Fair elections count says the bloc received 18.9 percent. The difference could be crucial in determining whether political allies of President Eduard Shevardnadze can retain control of parliament. EurasiaNet spoke to CEC chairwoman Nana Devdariani about the ballot-counting process and the controversy over the differing results. Devdariani maintains that the elections were largely free and fair, and bristles at allegations made by opposition politicians and organizations, including the Kmara student group, that that the CEC is involved in a government vote-rigging attempt. The full text of her comments follows:

EurasiaNet: During the October 15 presidential election in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijanis finalized the counting process by the evening of the next day. In Georgia, the vote tabulation process has been slower. Can you explain why?
Devdariani: I am more surprised by the fact the votes in Azerbaijan were counted that fast. [For background about the disputed Azerbaijani vote see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In Georgia, every election report is discussed and scrutinized at the level of district election commissions. This is naturally a complicated process taking much time. The commissions are now examining the reports.

EurasiaNet: Could you assess the election, say, on a scale of one to five?
Devdariani: Well, let us say the election received three-plus, no more. At the same time, all the previous elections would have scored a "one," and what we have today is a real progress. We had no illusions ahead of election, and we did not believe in building a new and ideal election system. The violations were not massive, we had some instances of violations that will be legally assessed and have [they will have] consequences. Anyway, I would like to stress that there were no large-scale violations. This is a major accomplishment. ... I would like to note as well that for the first time the CEC workings were transparent. ... There was nothing like that at any of the previous elections.

EurasiaNet: What about criticism from OSCE and other European and international bodies?
Devdariani: These structures will hardly say anything on the election's legitimacy. The election is legitimate beyond doubt. The OSCE and other structures would rather comment on the violations issue. As far as we are concerned, everything will be done to uproot any possibility of violations before the presidential election in 2005. We shall do the best we can to hold presidential election at the highest quality level.

We never denied the drawbacks, as well as the violations that really happened at some precincts. The most important thing is that for the first time in Georgian history we have managed to carry out a completely transparent election. By the way, all data on violations is coming from the CEC. We have not concealed a single fact concerning violations neither from the journalists nor from international organizations. We shall have to hold a second vote at certain polling stations. The 26 precincts the election was canceled. As for the violations, the reason they occurred were inaccuracies in the voters' lists.

EurasiaNet: Opposition leaders who are protesting the official preliminary results are citing the information delivered by Fair Elections. You can see a substantial difference between the CEC results and the results announced by the NGO. Can you explain how the totals can be so different?
Devdariani: The Fair Elections NGO counted the votes in 600 precincts. But the overall number of precincts is 2,870. Why should we rely on information from 600 precincts, when the list of precincts is three times larger? To follow Fair Elections' logic, the CEC does not need to count all the votes. ... Look at the results coming from the various regions and you will see the extent of disparities. Some regions' voters cast their ballots mostly for one of the parties, another region supported another party, and so forth. ... If you will file results from a part of precincts, you will never get the real picture.

EurasiaNet: What about government pressure?
Devdariani: Authorities have long ago lost any hopes of this kind. That happened as far back as three years ago. They realized that putting pressure on me is useless. Now, what is most important, the opposition has to understand the same thing. What I am saying is that no matter what anybody would like or dislike about the election outcome, I will never falsify the voting results.

EurasiaNet: Do you hear any charges from the opposition camp?
Devdariani: No. Anyway, I am covering all my colleagues, we are one team. When the CEC is attacked and there is no mention of my name, it still touches on me personally. This is my administration, and the one who touches upon my administration will have to deal with me. It will be me who will respond.

EurasiaNet: The Kmara (Enough) Movement claims in leaflets they distribute in Tbilisi that the CEC members are falsifying results.
Devdariani: If one does not represent the government, it does not mean that everything he says is true. To claim that Kmara, as a civil society structure, pronounces the ultimate truth would be simply wrong. I can say that I did not make any decision that in any way discriminated against opposition parties. As for the preliminary election results, please think about the 70 percent of Georgians who cast their ballots for the opposition. The fact that the opposition proved unable to unify before the election is the problem of politicians, not of the voters. As for the 20 percent received by the pro-government bloc, does the opposition really want the CEC not to register the ballots cast for the bloc For a new Georgia? Ahead of the election, the opposition claimed that if the pro-government bloc gains more than 8 percent, it will mean the election was falsified. Nevertheless, I am announcing the results I receive from precincts. If some person does not like these figures, he can appeal to the authorities. That would be the right way to act. In any case, no rallies and no protests will affect my work. I will still announce only the real election results.