During our observation, we saw cases of voters being bribed, and votes being duplicated, particularly in rural areas. We observed two worlds in our experience – one at the polling station where the voting process inside was well-managed, and the second outside, outside of the polling stations – said the head of the PACE delegai Julian Bulai.
Julian Boulay will present an extensive report with recommendations at the next plenary in Strasbourg. “A month before, I was the leader of the pre-election delega. We came to the conclusion at that time that the political space was unprecedented, as it was a de facto referendum on Georgia’s foreign policy and trajectory. During our mission, we focused primarily on these issues. I will focus on issues that my colleagues raised and express our concerns about the election processes. The quality of the elections reflected a trend that we observed in the pre-election period and environment. We were concerned with the impartiality and independence of state institutions. We also questioned hate speech and dissent against civil society. And we were also concerned with the passage of a law that would allow foreign influence to be revealed. We noticed voter bribery, and even vote duplication in rural areas, during and before the voting. We observed two different worlds. One was the inside of the polling station where the voting process was well-managed. The other was the outside, outside the stations. The presence of cameras from the ruling party outside the polling station and the registration of voters created an atmosphere of pressure, and also organized intimidation. It felt like big brother was watching. There were also uneven conditions and flaws during the process which undermined the credibility and fairness of the results. The car of an observer was vandalized when we were watching the elections in villages. These issues are important for government representatives to be aware of, since they relate to the implementation of the Monitoring Process by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. I would like thank our delegation. 31 members were part of our mission. Representatives of 21 different member countries were our observers. I will present an even more detailed report and recommendations at our next plenary meeting in Strasbourg”, said Julian Bulai.
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