NGO ISFED Speaks of Pressure & Intimidation Ahead of Runoff Elections

Non-governmental organization ‘Society for Fair and Elections and Democracy’ (ISFED), has released an interim report on the pre-election environment in Georgia ahead of the November 28 runoff.

The report reviews the period from 29 October to 19 November and says that the pre-election environment of the second round is characterized by sharp polarization and negative campaigns compared to the first round.

“Aggressive rhetoric has increased between the first and second rounds. Upon completion of the first round, the ruling party's representatives made annoying statements, and projections about the threat of civil war and possible destabilization if the opposition candidate wins. Later, the independent candidate supported by the ruling party said she had received death threats,” the document reads.

The report notes that media, between the first and second rounds, has become sharply polarized. ISFED mentioned that Imedi TV made a statement after the first round about transferring to "emergency mode" against the United National Movement and their presidential candidate Grigol Vashadze, and TV company Rustavi 2 strongly expresses support for the opposition candidate, criticizing ruling Georgian Dream (GD) supported Salome Zurabishvili.

The NGO claims pressure is being put, in different municipalities, on public officials as well as on individuals employed in the private sector and other vulnerable voters. According to the report, senior officials of different municipalities regularly hold meetings with public servants and demand support for Zurabishvili. In some cases, this resulted in job dismissals.

“These are facts of pressure and intimidation of voters, as well as the use of administrative resources, because in most cases senior officials carry out such pressure abusing their power," the report says.

The interim report reads that a representative of Zugdidi City Hall tasked teachers of Kortskheli village to vote for Zurabishvili and to write down the first letters of their names next to the presidential candidate’s name on the ballot paper.

“A similar case was observed in Borjomi, where the employees of kindergartens were told to vote for ruling party-backed presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili,” the NGO said, adding the teachers of Vale kindergarten, Akhaltsikhe district, were instructed to vote for Zurabishvili too. In Kareli, the teachers of kindergartens were asked to vote for Zurabishvili in exchange for an increase in their salaries,” the organization added.

ISFED Executive Director Mikheil Benidze said that during the reporting period, they revealed 40 facts of pressure and intimidation. The organization also revealed 1 fact of threat to a presidential candidate; dismissal from jobs on political grounds - 3; Physical confrontation - 5; Alleged vote buying - 13; Use of administrative resources - 14; Hampering of pre-election campaign - 2; 6 cases of damage of campaign materials and 1 case of interference with observer activities.

“So many facts of pressure and intimidation in just three weeks represents an alarming tendency…In most cases, the pressure is not directed towards one person but towards a group, mainly civil servants or people employed in state institutions,” he stated.

After presenting the report, the NGO representatives held a meeting with Ross Wilson, acting US Ambassador to Georgia.

“We are observing tense elections…I don’t want to go deep into the political disagreement existing in the country. Polarization is high and many issues need to be resolved,” Wilson said after the meeting.

The acting Ambassador noted that civil society is a significant part of democracy being a positive side of Georgia and other countries too.

Justin McKenzie Smith, British Ambassador to Georgia, also commented on upcoming second round of the elections.

”Georgia’s democratic reputation is its most precious asset. I urge all sides to take care of it. The long-term costs of damaging that reputation are hard to calculate,” the Ambassador’s tweet reads.

The second round of presidential elections will take place on November 28. The first round was carried out on October 28.

By Thea Morrison