GYLA continues to monitor 2016 Parliamentary Elections of Georgia. On this stage, we would like to draw the attention of society to violations and tendencies outlined in current period, during pre-elections process, that took place in different regions of Georgia and that, besides being violation of Election Code of Georgia, can negatively affect free, peaceful and equal elections environment.      

 According to the information the GYLA has received from various sources, representatives of political parties are recording the personal data (name, surname, personal number) of voters without explaining the purpose of collecting these data. It is particularly important that the target groups of these individuals are socially vulnerable people, ethnic minorities, and IDPs

In one of the buildings in the town of Lanchkhuti, Lanchkhuti Municipality, which houses several non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities (N(N)LEs) of the Lanchkhuti Municipality, we have observed election campaigning materials posted on the doors to the rooms of N(N)LE Tekservisi (director – Irakli Chkhaidze). The campaigning materials are stickers of political association Georgian Dream featuring circled number 41.

 According to a Gurianews report, on October 19 this year, Bela Shatirishvili, a representative of the Head of the Municipal Administration of Chokhatauri in the village of Shua Amagleba, took part in election campaigning during working hours.   

On September 19, Irakli Kobakhidze, Executive Secretary of Georgian Dream, made a statement that, in the early morning of September 19, activists of the United National Movement – two of whom were representatives of the campaign headquarters of Sevdia Ugrekhelidze – had entered the campaign office of Levan Gogichaishvili, a majoritarian candidate of Georgian Dream, wearing Georgian Dream T-shirts and carrying firearms. According to Mr. Kobakhidze, the said individuals intended to make a video that would show that people with criminal mentality gathered in the Georgian Dream headquarters. The Executive Secretary of Georgian Dream also stated that activists of Georgian Dream who were at the headquarters called the police and the police studied the situation on the ground.