Natia Ioselian is the spokesperson for the Central Election Commission. She said that Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the CEC chairman, has no connection to Alexander Malkevich. He has never studied in Russia and has never visited this country.
She also spoke at the briefing about the accreditation of Alexander Malkevich, the representative of a Russian media organization.
According to Ioseliani the CEC has no access to the legal status or the representative of a Russian media organization.
“We want to respond strongly to the disinformation campaigns that have been intensified in the media and on social networks over the past few days. The interested parties have fabricated allegations to show the connection between the election administration and the chairman of the board with Russia.
We categorically declare that the photos of the agreement, which are spread online and supposedly show the cooperation between the Russian company and the election administration, are fakes and have nothing whatsoever to do with us. The election administration has never worked with the company mentioned in the contract, or any other company for that matter.
The second issue is the accreditation of Alexander Malkevich, the representative of a Russian media organization. The interested parties claim that the election administration broke the law when it accredited the journalist, citing the personal relationship between the CEC chairman and the journalist.
We stress that the CEC has no access to the legal status or the authority of this person.
The fact that this person applied for accreditation through the chairman of CEC was presented as a manipulative way, as if it were the main proof that there is a connection between them. However, the correspondence process requires that the application be made to the head institution. This is done under the name of the institution, misleading the public. Accreditation is easy for any local or foreign media representative, and includes sending relevant information by e-mail. The election administration will issue an accreditation if the documentation submitted meets the electoral legislation.
This is known to all interested parties. Perhaps this is why documents were distributed online to support the misinformation that CEC Chairman Giorgi Kaandarishvili had studied in Russia alongside someone named Alexander Malkevich. We don’t know if this document was falsified or given to another Giorgi Kaandarishvili. However, we can tell the truth: CEC Chairman Giorgi Kaandarishvili does not have any connection to Alexander Malkevich. He has never studied in Russia, and he hasn’t been to this country.
All of this is clearly intended to discredit the election administration and leadership.
While presenting no evidence directly related to the election process, the interested parties are trying damage the process through disinformation and the publication of falsified or unclear documents. The election administration will not ignore any misinformation, manipulation, or false information and will provide objective and verified information to the public as well as international partners,” said Natia.
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