New Rights Demand Resignation of Chief of Parliament’s Apparatus

(Tbilisi, June 7, Civil Georgia) – The New Rights faction demanded at the Parliamentary session today that Khatuna Gogorishvili, Head of the Parliament’s Apparatus should resign as she was involved in vote-rigging during the Parliamentary Chairperson’s elections last November.
 
MPs disclosed an attempt at vote-rigging during the parliamentary chairmanship elections. The ballots to elect Chairman of the Parliament were numbered according to the name-list of MPs. This is a violation of the confidential vote. Nino Burjanadze was elected on post of the Parliamentary Chairperson.

The New Rights faction demanded Gogorishvili’s resignation after General Prosecutor Nugzar Gabrichidze reported on investigation of the vote-rigging to the Parliament.

The General Prosecutor stated that some of the members of the Parliamentary apparatus might be involved in forging, but the investigation could not prove that Gogorishvili or some other apparatus member was guilty. Nugzar Gabrichidze said that the investigation will continue.

The faction Democrats (Gogorishvili is the member of this faction) and some other MPs defended Head of the Apparatus.

Numbered ballots during the elections of the Parliamentary Chairperson last November would have allowed for forecasting the runoff elections with great precision and identifying undecided voters. The forgery was highly sophisticated – the numbers were watermarked on ballots.