Georgia’s Ruling Party Offers Memorandum to Ensure Peaceful Elections

TBILISI – Several of Georgia’s political parties have agreed to sign a memorandum initiated by the ruling party Georgian Dream (GD) last week that would ensure peaceful, democratic and transparent parliamentary elections on October 8.

According to the Georgian Dream’s statement on the matter, the ruling coalition envisages a political agreement between all of the country’s political parties to refrain from provoking each other during the campaign season and on the day of the election.

Each party would agree to discourage their supporters from attending a meeting or rally by a rival party and order their followers to refrain from disrupting events held by a political opponent.

“This agreement will cover the whole election cycle until the final results are published," said the GD’s Executive Secretary Irakli Kobakhidze.

According to reports, the Georgian Dream, Republicans, Industrialists, Alliance of Patriots, Nino-Burjanadze’s pro-Russian Democratic Georgia and former Defense Minister Irakli Alasania’s Free Democrats will sign the memorandum.

Though he has vowed to sign the initiative, Alasania believes the document is weak and vague as it fails to define the role of each specific party’s leadership.

Georgia’s main opposition party, former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM), the National Forum, Labor Party and State for the People coalition have all refused to sign the memorandum.

The UNM said in a statement that the memorandum is “cynical and poorly planned PR stunt” by the GD, saying the ruling team was a major source and threat for provocations. 

“We are not going to sign the memorandum, but we promise that the UNM will not disrupt the election campaign of any party,” Giorgi Tughushi, a member of the UNM stated.

Mamuka Katsitadze, a member of the New Rights party that is now aligned with opera-singer-turned-opposition-leader Paata Burchuladze’s State for the People coalition, labelled the memorandum “a farce”, saying his party had no intention in officially heading the GD’s call.

Several Non-Governmental Organizations have backed the GD’s memorandum, but stressed that its terms must be properly defined and fulfilled by all of the signatories.

By Thea Morrison

Edited by Nicholas Waller