Pre-election Campaign in Working Hours or Reporting to the Heads of Residential Buildings?!

Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

Chairman of Rustavi City Council Kakha Gurgenidze was member of the former ruling political party. For the past two weeks, almost every day, he meets heads of residential buildings in Rustavi during working hours. The meetings are organized by the non-profit illegal entity Rustavi Korpusi. The entity is funded from the local budget and tries to resolve problems of residential buildings in Rustavi.

Gurgenidze and Rustavis Korpusi state that purpose of the meeting was reporting to the population about the implemented work and did not aim to agitate in favor of the former ruling party.

“3% of the city was illuminated before 2003; 97% of Rustavi is illuminated by 2013,” the first slide of Gurgenidze’s presentation reads. His next messages to the heads of the residential buildings are about rehabilitated lifts, roads, yellow buses and infrastructural projects.

Gurgenidze said he is happy to share other initiatives too. “Before, I did not park my car in the garage and was ready to campaign against garages. But there is different reality now and cannot suggest anybody to park his car outside garage,” Gurgenidze explained to Rustavi dwellers.

During the meeting he several times mentioned ongoing infrastructural projects in the city: “All ongoing projects were planned by the previous government and they took responsibility of its funding too.”

He was asked whether he was agitating in favor of the previous government or not and he answered: “I am proud to say that I occupied significant positions when the city was rebuilt and illuminated. These meetings are not part of PR campaign at all,” Gurgenidze said. 

Head of the non-profit legal entity Rustavis Korpusi Koba Lomidze believes government reports to the population during these meetings. Gurgenidze’s new initiative is also acceptable for him, according to which boards will be put up in front of every residential building, which will inform people about implemented projects and city council’s thanksgiving texts to the heads of the residential buildings will be placed there too.

“You were blamed to be coordinators of the United National Movement. But I believe you have done much for your city and residential buildings. It was not easy job and we decided to praise your work in this form,” chairman of the city council presented his new initiative to the heads of the residential buildings.