(Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, December 2, 2002) – The election watchdog NGO International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFE), which observed MP by-elections on November 30, says, “elections were held again with serious violations, that destroys citizens’ belief towards election process.”
By-elections were held in Rustavi, Samtredia, Abasha and Tbilisi’s Saburtalo election districts. In Samtredia and Abasha nominees of the pro-governmental Citizens’ Union of Georgia party won the elections. In Rustavi and capital city’s Saburtalo district elections were failed because of the low turnout of voters.
“November 30 elections proved once more that the grave concern of the Georgian society about fair conduct of elections has serious basis,” ISFE statement says.
The watchdog NGO reports that the ISFED observers have faced problems especially in Rustavi election district, where several cases of observers’ bribery and threatening from the election commission members were observed.
One of the observers of the ISFED in Rustavi Medea Beridze, 37, died with the heart attack on December 1. ISFED claims that after her refusal to take bribe Beridze was blackmailed and pressured that led to her death.
“November 30 elections, as well as local self-governance elections, June 2, 2002 give the basis to ISFED and NGOs (participating in the ISFED observation campaign) to state that authorities and Central Elections Commission (responsible for election’s conduct) intentionally sabotage conducting of democratic and fair elections,” the ISFED statement says.
The NGO assumes that such tendency threatens conduction of the Parliamentary elections, 2003.