The Public Defender and NGOs will cooperate during election observatio

Lana Giorgidze

By September 1, 2016 there are 25 international and 48 local observation organizations registered by the Georgian Central Election Commission for the 2016 Parliamentary Elections (CEC). The process of registration is not finished yet. Consequently, the number of the observing organizations may increase. 

On August 30, Public Defender met local and international NGOs working on the election observation and presented the project which aims to monitor human rights violations during the election period. The Open Society Georgia Foundation supports the project, in the frame of which 26 groups of rapid response will work in 8 regional Offices of the Public Defender’s Office [PDO], as well as 8 court monitor and 8 regional coordinators.

“The Public Defender of Georgia does not have an observation mandate unlike NGOs and international organizations. We do not have right to monitor the elections directly in the polling stations, but the Public Defender, as the human rights national institute, has resources to respond to all violations. That’s why, we decided to cover all regions of Georgia”, - Ucha Nanuashvili, the Public Defender, said.

The Public Defender clarified that considering the importance of the upcoming parliamentary elections, the PDO has already started creation of mobile groups. 

“26 mobile groups will work together with the PDO staff members. Our goal is not only to monitor the Election Day, but also to observe ongoing developments before and after the election. Besides, our purpose is to effectively exchange the information with the observing organizations”, - Ucha Nanuashvili explained. 

The Ombudsman called on the representatives of the NGOs to collaborate with their observers and underlined that it is important for their office to have information about planned observation missions from each organization. 

Levan Natroshvili of the Transparency International– Georgia said the organization has already started monitoring of the pre-election environment: “Mostly we monitor funding of political parties and use of administrative resources. However, of course, we monitor other processes too, which are related with the elections. We will publish the pre-election monitoring report in September. We will monitor the Election Day with approximately 350 observers. We will have mobile groups throughout the country. We will try to cover problematic precincts and regions”. 

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy has been monitoring the 8 October Parliamentary Elections since July 1. 

“We have 68 long-term observes throughout Georgia, who have been monitoring the election processes since July 1. The Fair Elections monitor the work of the election administration and the meetings of political parties with voters. The organization also monitors the pre-election campaigns of the political parties and might-have-been violations, which will be disclosed in our reports. The organization will observe the Election Day with 800 - 1 000 observes in the precincts, and also we will have observers in the district commissions. Besides, the observation headquarter will operate in Tbilisi, which will accumulate all information provided from the regions and will deliver it to the society”, - Mikheil Benidze from the Fair Elections said. 

Human Rights Center also monitors the pre-election and the Election Day. Tamar Avaliani, the representative of the organization, said Human Rights Center will monitor the election day in the conflict-affected villages and in the regions inhabited by ethnic/religious minorities.

“Human Rights Center will monitor the elections in Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Imereti and Kakheti regions. The lawyer will coordinate the observers. Besides, a coordination group will be located in Tbilisi, which will accumulate all information provided from the observers in the head office and disseminate relevant information afterwards. The Executive Director of Human Rights Center will participate in the briefings of the organizations in order to inform the society about election process in different regions of Georgia”, - Tamar Avaliani clarified. 

The Public Advocacy will monitor the 2016 parliamentary elections with 120 observers and 5 mobile groups. Irina Putkaradze said, the observers will be concentrated in the conflict zone villages of Shida Kartli, IDP settlements and in Tbilisi. 

Unlike other observation organizations, the Development and Democracy Center will monitor the pre-election period and the Election Day in the exceptionally created precincts. 

“Our organization works differently. We monitor all ad-hoc precincts. The exact number of these precincts will be announced on September 23. The Ministry of Defense, contrary to prior years, does not plan to create special polling stations in the military bases, but soldiers will be linked to the nearest precincts. That’s why, the organization will monitor special polling stations and adjoining precincts to the military bases”, - Mari Bendeliani, the representative of the Development and Democracy Center, declared. 

According to the election law, the election commission is obliged to create all conditions for the observer, so that he/she has the opportunity to implement his/her duties to monitor the on-going procedures in any polling station or election institution.