Q&A with CEC Chairman Zurab Tchiaberashvili
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CEC Chairman expects smooth parliamentary |
CEC will have to settle a number of problems, such as computerization of voter lists, training of election administration members. In an interview with Civil Georgia CEC Chairman Zurab Tchiaberashvili said that little time is left before the elections and too much is to be done to hold free and fair elections.
“Computerization of the voter lists is the top priority,” he said. The CEC chief, who previously chaired the leading election watchdog organization, also says that the election commissions should be composed on the parity bases. “However, composition of the election administrations by the professions and not by the representatives of the political parties would be the ideal choice,” he added.
Q.: How could you assess the January 4 presidential elections?
A.: I think, the presidential elections were a step ahead, as the main task was fulfilled.The official results of the elections clearly reflected the will of the Georgian people.
However, these elections have not passed without apparent errors, since the election administrations were not brave enough to avoid violations. Our professionalism is still very low. Due to the relevant monitoring by international observers and our strict instructions, number of violations was minimized. Now, we plan to raise qualification of election administrations. We plan to hold serious trainings for them in February.
As a whole, I can say that I am satisfied; however, much is still to be done to upgrade the election administrations.
Q.: What kind of violation was basically reported?
A.: I can not speak about the types of violations, since mass violations of one and the same type have not been reported. However, I can say, that the results of two polling stations were cancelled in Marneuli and Ozurgeti each due to ballot stuffing. However, this kind of facts has not occurred often to influence the final results of the elections.
There were particular problems regarding voter marking [procedure to prevent double voting – editor’s note], however not by reason of poor qualification of commissions. Some people still cast doubt over this procedure and try to avoid it.
The third key problem concerned final protocols tally in the precinct and district [lower level election – editor’s note] commissions. Filling in protocols appeared a great problem for the commissions. First, the structure of a protocol itself is rather difficult; the second – the commission members have not undergone special training.
Q.: Opponents say, there were cases, when one voter cast ballot in 17-20 seconds, which they say is absolutely impossible due to protracted voting procedures. When you were the chief of the leading election observer organization, you were criticizing the previous authorities, as many cases of so called rapid voting have been reported.
A.: Such cases were not frequent. The voting procedures were quick enough during these elections, as voter lists were well-organized and accurate. Each voter had his own registration number that greatly simplified the necessary voting procedures and sped up voting. There was a separate table for those voters who failed to find their names in the voter lists. So, they were registered just on the election day. However, if someone has doubts over ballot stuffing, they should submit the evidence and the commission will discuss it.
This issue was also discussed on November 2, when all the necessary documents were submitted for consideration. Particularly, over 100 voters visited polling station until 5 p.m., while 1500 voters have reportedly visited polling stations from 5 to 7 p.m. The observers have provided all the documentary materials proving the ballot stuffing as it is impossible that 1500 voters could cast ballot during two hours.
Q.: Before becoming the CEC chief you chaired the leading election watchdog NGO International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy. What can you say about the preliminary report of the international observers from OSCE and Council of Europe, which noted “less scrutiny by domestic observers” in all aspects of the election process?
A.: The institute of local observers is rather important. I have the right to say this. They might have looked weak for two reasons. By the objective reason, there were no claims against CEC during this election and perhaps, that’s why it looked weak.
The second reason is that the situation is rather difficult in the civil sector now [after the bloodless revolution – editor’s note]. Little time was left before the elections. Hence, the civil society played a role of a general observer rather than oriented to particular violations. The observers were mainly focused to identify whether the new authorities were willing to hold free and fair elections.
One more important issue is transfer of personnel from the civil sector to the state sector. This process weakens the civil sector, but I think that new persons should be attracted to the civil sector. In future the civil sector should control the state institutions, as it was earlier, during the previous government.
The preliminary conclusions of OSCE and other international organizations absolutely reflect those aspects.
Q.: What are the plans of CEC regarding voter lists for the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 28?
A.: The top priority now is to computerize voter lists. When the computerized lists are ready, they will be sent to polling stations, where particular changes will be made in case of necessity. So, on March 28 we will have mixed lists, a part will be computerized and the other part – handwritten.
We do not aim at specifying voter lists for the Match parliamentary elections. We have two practical tasks – to prepare computerized list of 2,2 million eligible voters, who have already undergone voter registration. Those, who are included in the computerized lists, will find their names by alphabet. And those, who have not yet registered and will be included on the voter lists before March 28 or on March 28, will be included on the lists according to their registration numbers and their names will be computerized only for the next elections.
We have to make a choice – either to start registration right now or to postpone this process until the voter lists are computerized. Our main task is to computerize lists by late February, so that to post them in the polling stations in early March.
We will be engaged in computerization of voter lists for the whole February. The Central Election Commission will assume responsibility for this process, while USAID will fund it.
Q.: The international donors have expressed readiness to defray the election expenses. Will you face any problems with funding?
A.: I do not think we will face any problems. However, it is unclear yet, what will be the share of the state funds in the election budget. The Finance Minister should announce about it [the Central Election Commission approved on January 16 the election budget, which amounts to GEL 7 million – editor’s note].
Q.: Do you think the March 28 parliamentary elections will be as smooth as the January 4 presidential elections?
A.: They will not differ greatly. Two things will define the nature of elections – how ready the district commissions are and how calm the atmosphere is for casting a ballot.
Q.: The presidential elections were held in non-competitive conditions with one leading candidate, while during the parliamentary elections the interests of several parties will contest for the parliamentary seats. How will this competition influence on the calm atmosphere of the elections?
A.: Party interests may be expressed through the political debates on TV, but I do not expect the violence during the election campaign like it was on the eve of November 2 parliamentary elections.
Q.: Political parties, which are in the opposition to the new leadership, criticized the government’s decision to appoint elections in March and demanded to hold polls for a later date. Will early elections have a negative influence on it?
A.: I have numerously said that politically it might be rather good to hold elections within a short period, but technical and administrative aspects are also to be taken into account. We may find it difficult to settle all the election-related problems in this period.
We’d better manage duly composition of election administrations and avoid problems with funding.
Q.: The international observers noted the political imbalance in the composition of the election administration, in favor of the current authorities. Do you think that the commissions’ composition should be reshuffled?
A.: I support that the commissions to be composed under the parity bases, but nobody discusses this issue. If the political parties have no objections in this regard, what can the CEC Chairman do? Parity is good, on the one hand, but on the other, it may lead to the standstill during the decision-making process, due to the interests of the particular political party.
In my opinion, our main task is to set up professional administrations, which will not be composed by the representatives of the political parties. After the parliamentary elections, CEC should be composed only by the professionals. Number of commission members should be reduced, as a 15-member administration is unnecessary.
The Parliament should solve whether to change the rule of composition of election administrations or not. If the rule of composition changes before March 28, it may not reflect separate issues, but still create great obstacles, such as raising the issue of postponement of elections.