Tag Archives: election

Georgian opposition members face violence in election

MAY 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Leaders and activists of the opposition UNM party were beaten in a fistfight outside polling stations in the village of Zugdidi in western Georgia. Local by-elections were being held in several municipalities across Georgia and the Georgian Dream ruling party won in seven out of nine races. The UNM cried foul, accusing Georgian Dream supporters of the beating. The interior ministry issued arrest warrants for the perpetrators.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Ex-Georgia President says he has voice in UNM

MAY 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mikheil Saakashvili, former President of Georgia, now head of the local administration in Odessa, Ukraine, said he would go back to Georgia to campaign for his UNM party ahead of parliamentary elections next October. Mr Saakashvili told the Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2 that he still has a say in the UNM, the party he founded, and that he wants to be engaged in both Ukraine and Georgia.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Armenia adopts electoral reform

APRIL 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian parliament adopted a new electoral code, after weeks of debate in parliament (April 29). The new code, which will be used for the next parliamentary elections in 2017, is a mixed proportional-majoritarian system. Critics said the amendments failed to make the code robust and fraud-proof.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Tajik Pres. daughter becomes Parliamentary candidate

MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Central Election Commission approved President Emomali Rakhmon’s daughter, Ozoda Rakhmon, as a parliamentary candidate. Ms Rakhmon is currently head of the Presidential Administration and will run for a seat in the upper house in a May 29 by-election. Democracy advocates have accused Tajikistan of nepotism in selecting public officials.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Georgia issues free ID cards

MAY 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian government said it would issue ID cards free-of-charge between May 26 and June 26, in an effort to prepare voters for a parliamentary election in October. Georgia’s electronic ID cards generally cost 30 lari ($13.6). The government is pushing for voters to have the correct identification documents to showcase its transparent electoral environment.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

UNM MP quits 5 months from Georgia election

MAY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Five months before a parliamentary election, Georgian MP Giorgi Vashadze quit the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party because of what he described as its “closed” leadership style.

Mr Vashadze said he planned to set up his own political party in a move that may draw some support away from the UNM in what is expected to be a tight election battle with the ruling Georgian Dream coalition in October.

“People waited for new initiatives from the UNM, but this has been in vain,” Mr Vashadze told local media.

The UNM had excluded Mr Vashadze from its top ten list of candidates for the election in October. His former colleagues in the UNM accused him of being self-interested.

“Vashadze’s ambition was to be in the top ten of the party list. This was voted down. Quitting the party because of that reason is completely irresponsible,” Sergo Ratiani, MP and UNM’s secretary general, said.

Even so the row will hurt the UNM which is trying to position itself as a government in waiting ahead of the election. It lost power to the Georgian coalition in an election in 2012, having governed Georgia for eight years.

In late April, a poll sponsored by the local branch of the US-funded International Republican Institute showed just how close the election is likely to be. It said that the Georgian Dream party was still the most popular party with support at around

19%. The UNM came in second with 18%, but the surprise was the 12% support for for the Georgian Development Foundation, a movement founded by opera singer Paata Burchuladze.

Around 25% of the people polled, though, said they were either undecided on who they would for or wouldn’t vote at all, setting the scene for what analysts have said will be a close, hard-fought, election.

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(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Georgia sets election date

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili set the date for the upcoming parliamentary elections for Oct. 8. Mr Margvelashvili said he had consulted with PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili, a member of the Georgian Dream government coalition, who signed the decree the following day.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgian Dream’s partner quits government coalition

APRIL 4 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — The National Forum, previously seen as one of the government’s most loyal junior partners, quit the Georgian Dream-led governing coalition, dealing a major blow to the coalition’s hopes of retaining a majority at a parliamentary election later this year.

The Georgian Dream coalition now has a thin majority in parliament, holding 82 seats out of a total of 150. The National Forum has six MPs. Its decision to quit government came only a few days after the Republican party, also part of the coalition government, said that it would campaign on a separate slate at the parliamentary election.

Korneli Kakachia, director of the local non-partisan think tank the Georgian Institute of Politics, said that recent government policies by the Georgian Dream party had irritated its junior partners.

“This is pretty damaging to the Georgian Dream, as the National Forum were very loyal partners. Their announcement will raise questions with the voters,” he said. “The other parties are still in the coalition, but their support for new laws is not assured. Especially not the recently proposed bill by Georgian Dream to allow the PM to stay in office and run for MP at the same time.”

Under the current legislation, the PM can’t run for election as an MP. The Georgian Dream, though, want to change this as they want current PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili to head their party list.

But splits in the coalition has impacted its popularity with voters. Luka, 32, leaned against his BMW taxi. “If they can’t even keep their coalition together, how can they rule a country?” he said.

Standing next to him, 58-year-old Giorgi nodded his head in agreement. “I voted for them in the last election, but I’m not sure I’ll give them my vote in October,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Georgian election splits coalition

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Republican Party, which is part of the government coalition with the ruling Georgian Dream party, said it will run independently at parliamentary elections scheduled for October. PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said this does not mean that Republican Party deputies will now have to withdraw support for the coalition or that its ministers will have to leave the government.

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(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Kyrgyz President wins votes

MARCH 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan won three of the six major cities that held local elections, cementing its authority other regional cities that had previously been considered staunchly pro-opposition. The SDPK won in Osh, Tokmok and Kemin, three important regional cities in Kyrgyzstan.

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(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)