As public is aware, according to the Law on Broadcasting, the Public Broadcaster of Georgia is obliged to hold debates before the elections. Namely, the Public Broadcaster should, in non-discriminative way, ensure equal participation of all qualified election subjects in pre-election debates.
The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary responds to the May and July 2016 decisions of the Disciplinary Collegium and Disciplinary Chamber in the case of Judge Giorgi Sulakadze. The Coalition attempted to obtain additional information regarding this disciplinary case, and among others, reviewed and studied the decisions published on the web page of the Collegium. Based on this research, the Coalition considers the precedent set by these decisions as containing danger to judicial independence.
2016 Parliamentary elections will be the first after the parliamentary elections back in 2012 when, after an extremely tense pre-election period, for the first time in the history of Georgia the ruling party was changed through elections; furthermore, this will be the first parliamentary elections after signing the Georgia-European Union Association Agreement. Accordingly, interest towards the elections and its significance for Georgia’s future democratic development and Euro-Atlantic integration is great.
Constitutional Court of Georgia delivered the judgement on September 30, 2016, regarding GYLA constitutional application. The Court found unconstitutional the order of the Minister of Defense regarding unfounded transfer of the Army and Military personnel to the Human Resources Department that could be followed with dismissal of the certain employee. The Constitutional Court considered first and second paragraphs of Article 29 of the Constitution (the right to hold any state position).
Georgian Parliamentary Elections of October 8, 2016 Assessment of the Pre-election Environment
By 10 a.m. the polling process is taking place in calm environment. The majority of the precincts observed by the GYLA were ready to receive the first voter. These precincts were equipped with the respective election materials.
