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Commissaries Have Election Posters of the National Movement Pasted in Their Offices

May 27, 2010
Shorena Ghlonti, Guria

Offices of the commissaries of the territorial entities in Ozurgeti district are full of election posters and booklets of the United National Movement. Lawyers say similar action is punished under the Article 126/18 of the Election Code and imposes fine of 1 500 GEL over the offender (commissary in this particular case).

Commissary of the village of Gurianta in Ozurgeti district Bakhva Kverghelidze stated that election HQ of the National Movement is located in his room in the administrative building of the territorial entity of Gurianta village.
-Mr. Bakhva, why do you have posters of the National Movement in your office?
-Because it is HQ of the National Movement; should we keep them anywhere else?
-Is the HQ of the ruling party in the office of the village commissary?
-Yes it is.
-What lists are these?
-These are district election lists.
-Why do you have a working list of the polling station # 60/24 of Gurianta village on your table?
-Because I have copied it and want to work on it in order to avoid violations in the polling station # 60/24.
-Are you doing all these?
-The HQ personnel do it. Later I inform the party members about the situation.
-What lists are these?
-It is my personal working list.
The personal working list for Bakhva Kverghelidze is the list of voters from the village Gurianta; it provides all the information about the voters. The most important fact is that there is additional information written on the list: For example, Kverghelidze has already cleared up that Tengo Kapanadze is not going to take part in the elections; Rusiko Arobelidze is in the opposition; Gogola Kvachantiradze is the supporter; Gocha Patarava has not decided whom to vote; Karlo Malazonia will not participate in the elections. The working table of Kverghelidze is full of similar documents; the same happens on the table of the commissary of the village Meria in Ozurgeti district Vazha Chanchibadze. However, Mr. Vazha unlike Bakhva Kverghelidze was cleverer and managed to wrap up the papers in one bundle as soon as we visited him. However, he did not hide the posters of the ruling party. Besides that, he forgot to hide one important paper where he had marked the supporters and oppositionists of the ruling party; on the same paper he had written the mobile phone numbers of those people.

-Mr. Vazha, do you support the National Movement?
-Of course, I do.
-Where do you distribute these booklets?
-I do not distribute them. Simply, they were there and I brought them into my room; I could not throw away such a huge…
-Such a huge what?
-Such a huge work. They have paid money in it and why should the posters and booklets be scattered in the street. I took them and brought into my room.

Commissary of the village Ozurgeti also supports the National Movement. Grigol Chkhaidze said that the posters of the ruling party shall be in the office of the governmental official.
-Mr. Grigol, why do you have posters of the ruling party in your room?
-I am representative of the government and should not I keep the posters of the National Council in my room?
- I am asking you this question because you are the governmental official and you are not on holiday.  Here we see the poster “More To Be None.”
-Yes, of course more shall be done… we do much and should not we? I am asking you.
-Since you are the governmental official, you should not have the poster of any political party in the administrative building.

The building of the nursery school in the village Ozurgeti is covered with the posters of the ruling party. The director Madlena Andghuladze said that everything in their nursery school was done by the National Movement and they still supply them with the products.
-    They assisted us with oil, sugar, wheat flour and other presents.
-    Do they still assist you?
-    Yes, they assist us in everything what they afford. Now they will make a new office and entrance for us.
-    Is it done by the initiative of the National Movement or by the district administration?
-    Tthe National Movement, district administration and we are one team.

Lawyer of the Union for Democratic Development of Georgian Irakli Papava said that the law prohibits to paste the election posters in the interior or exterior of the buildings of the governmental or local self-governmental bodies, courts, prosecutor’s office, military bases and police stations; the posters shall not be pasted on the cultural buildings, traffic sign-posts (Organic Law “Election Code of Georgia, Article 75.4).

Papava added that in the abovementioned cases the village commissaries are carrying out pre-election agitation when they have the posters and election booklets of any political party in their working rooms. In addition to that, the commissary states that the National Movement has a HQ in his room. It is violation of the Article 73 Part 5 “h” and Article 781 Part I “c” of the Election Code.

“Besides the fact that in accordance to the Article 126/8 of the Election Code the offender shall be fined with 1 500 GEL, s/he shall be dismissed from his/her work as well,” said Irakli Papava.

The Transparency International –Georgia has already filed complaint to the Central Election Commission regarding these facts.

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