During a press briefing, Givi Mikanadze, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, criticized the recent pre-election monitoring report by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED). He called the report “absurd and baseless” and accused the organization of promoting polarization ahead of the October 26 parliamentary elections.
Mikanadze argued that the report failed to address the ongoing campaign by unspecified non-governmental organizations framing the forthcoming vote as a “choice between Europe and non-Europe”. He claimed that this campaign was aimed at polarizing voters, but was ignored by the ISFED in its assessment.
The lawmaker also addressed the ISFED’s concern about the ruling team potentially declaring the National Movement as unconstitutional if they secure a constitutional majority. He reminded the authors of the report that political parties are banned in many democratic countries around the world if they meet certain criteria. He cited Article 23, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Georgia, which states that the establishment and activity of a political party that aims to overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional order of Georgia is not allowed.
Mikanadze also pointed out that member states of the Council of Europe are obligated to prohibit political parties if they engage in violent actions to achieve political goals or undermine fundamental democratic principles. He mentioned that around 150 instances of the prohibition of political parties have been observed in 20 Council of Europe states.
Regarding the report’s mention of no effective steps being taken to investigate individual acts of violence, Mikanadze stated that this is false. He claimed that representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have addressed all cases mentioned in the report and initiated appropriate investigations.
In conclusion, Mikanadze criticized the ISFED’s report for not accurately addressing the current political situation in Georgia and for failing to mention the efforts being made by the government to ensure a fair and democratic election process.
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