Saba Tsitsikashvili, Gori
After the elections at Gori University on October 21, 2010, Humanitarian Faculty Professor Giorgi Sosiashvili was elected to be a member of the Academician Council despite the fact that he was a member of the counting commission. Thus, also a member of the election commission, Giorgi Sosiashvili elected himself as a member of the Academician Council and then he issued an instruction as an acting rector of the university. According to the instruction, the Academician Council shall elect a rector on January 17, 2011. Of course Giorgi Sosiashvili will be the candidate for the rector’s election too. There are others who commit similar violations; keep the procedures in secret and interfere in the professional activities of journalists. They are - election commission members of Gori University – Malkhaz Mindiashvili and Vano Balakhashvili who started working at the university as society members with the support of the currently convicted former University Rector Zaza Tsotniashvili.
In January of 2011, the academician council will elect the new rector at the Gori University. Before that, on October 21, 2010 the academician council was staffed with the professors of the university faculties. We collected some materials and they prove that the election of the academician council was held through violations in which the election commission was guilty. The Human Rights Center holds concrete proofs for these violations and we will discuss each of them in details.
“You Cannot Enter Because You Are A Journalist”
On October 12, 2010, during the election of the academician council, the chairman of the election commission Malkhaz Mindiashvili and the commission member Vano Balakhashvili did not allow the coordinator of the Gori office of the Human Rights Center and the editor of the local newspaper “Kartlis Khma” to attend the election process because he was a “journalist.” The video-recording to prove the fact is uploaded on the website www.regions.ge where Vano Balakhashvili says that the journalist cannot attend the election as a journalist. Balakhashvili said the journalist had to be registered as an observer. However, the journalist had to submit application for the observer five days before the elections. The journalist clarified that he did not want to observe the election and carry out those responsibilities which the observer has in accordance to the law.
Article 25 of the Regulation for the Election of Management Bodies at the Gori University states that an observer can draw up a protocol on violation. Besides that, an observer can file a complaint to the university election commission. As I have told you, the journalist did not request the observer status; he wanted to attend the election process as a journalist. It is noteworthy that the abovementioned regulation does not envisage any regulations for the journalists during the elections. According to the same rule, journalists are not prohibited to attend and cover election procedures.
Chairman of the election commission Malkhaz Mindiashvili said that on October 21 they gave only two minutes to the journalist to attend and to video-record the election procedures and then he left the room. Mindiashvili was asked why the journalist had only two minutes to be in the election room and he replied: “When we decided that the journalist finished his activities, we asked him to leave the room.”
Vano Balakhashvili said: “The commission chairman made similar statement because the person was a journalist and was not attending the election procedures as an observer.” Neither Vano Balakhashvili recalled the concrete law which prohibited the journalist to “attend” the election of the management bodies of the university. The journalist tried to explain the commission members that they were deliberately declaring him to be an “observer” but in vain.
Illegal Commission…
Although we protested the action of the commission chairman Malkhaz Mindiashvili and commission member Vano Balakhashvili, we had to leave the election procedures. Official data prove that the academician council did not have invited any observers from other organizations. In fact, one more thing supported the commission to hold unfair elections. Each faculty had only one candidate in the elections that made the elections “uncompetitive.”
We inquired who commission members were and how they were selected. According to the information provided by the Gori University, we learned that the commission was set up on June 22, 2009. According to the legislation, the academician council estimated the number of commission members and selected the candidates too during the representative session. We learned the names of the commission members from the resolution of the academician council; those people held elections on October 21, 2010. The journalist of the Kartlis Khma was not allowed into the election room; he was forced out from the building and consequently, the commission members counted the bulletins “without problems”.
On October 21st, the election commission was comprised of the following staff members: Malkhaz Mindiashvili (the chairman), Neli Champuridze, Aleksandre Mghebrishvili, Giorgi Sosiashvili, Ivane Balakhashvili, Nana Nadiradze and Irakli Kenkadze. We asked the Gori University Administrative staff about the composition of the commission which held the elections for the Academic Council on October 21st. Gori University presented a written document indicating that along with Malkhaz Mindiashvili and Vano Balakhashvili, Giorgi Sosiashvili, the performer of rector’s duties and his assistant Aleksandre Mghebrishvili were among the staff members on the commission.
Then we received the decision from Gori University made by the academic council on October 25th of 2010. According to the October 25th decision, the composition of the election commission was changed and both Giorgi Sosiashvili and Aleksandre Mghebrishvili were taken off the list. But this was too late, as the academic council elections had been held 4 days ago and the votes had already been counted. We have all the decisions of the academic and the representative council according to the order of numbers and series.
The question is what did Giorgi Sosiashvili- the performer of the rector’s duties and his assistant Aleksandre Mghebrishvili- want in the election commission? Why was the academic council election conducted by the commission, and the staff of which was holding administrative posts? According to article IV of the Rule on the Election of Administrative Bodies at Gori University entitled “incompatibility of interests,” it is indicated that: “a member of the university election commission cannot hold an administrative post at the University.” On October 21st, Giorgi Sosiashvili was holding the rector’s post and Aleksandre Mghebrishvili was his assistant. The existence of Sosiashvili and Mghebrishvili on the election commission is a violation of law and gives rise to the invalidation of the election results.
Another violation: As it is known, during the October 21st 2010 elections of academic council, the candidate for humanitarian faculty was Giorgi Sosiashvili. According to the #5 protocol of election results, 21 voters unanimously elected Giorgi Sosiashvili. The bulletins were counted by the same commission; a member of which was Giorgi Sosiashvili.
The operative commission for October 21st was the election commission which was formed on June 22nd of 2009, and the member of which was also Giorgi Sosiashvili. The changes were made to this commission on October 25th of 2010. Giorgi Sosiashvili and his assistant Mghebrishvili were taken out of the list afterwards. That means that the changes made on October 25th would have had no impact on the rule operating on the October 21st and the elections conducted according to that rule.
Who was obligated to prevent these violations by the election commission? In the Election Rule of Gori University Administrative Bodies it is written that the head of the university election commission is in charge of the commission sessions, signs the decisions of the commission and implements the authority under its competence.
The Human Rights Center is going to address the Gori University administration with a complaint and request for the punishment of the head of the election commission. Before the Head of the Election Commission Malkhaz Mindiashvili was the head of the NGO UN Association, and his brother Zaza Mindiashvili is still the head of the Gori branch of the Civil Registry. Before, the Rector Zaza Tsotniashvili appointed Malkhaz Mindiashvili as the staff member of the election commission as according to the Rule on the Election of Administrative Bodies it was possible to appoint distinguished public figures as members of the commission. Malkhaz Mindiashvili and Vano Balakhashvili were deemed to be the distinguished public figures. It has been several months; Vano Balakhashvili is the consultant-lawyer of Sakrebulo Chair and the whole Sakrebulo staff and receives a salary from the state budget.
Thus, on October 21st of 2010 the academic council was elected. The council will elect the new rector on January 17th of 2011. The candidates for rector’s post will be registered starting from November 29th of 2010 till December 14 18:00p.m. This period is the terms for presenting the applications.
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