2008 presidential election in Georgia

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Standard of the President of Georgia

The 2008 presidential elections in Georgia ( Georgian საქართველოს საპრეზიდენტო არჩევნები 2008 ) took place on January 5th. They were set by President Mikheil Saakashvili before the end of the electoral term in response to the mass protests in Georgia in 2007 . They began in five remote mountainous constituencies on December 28, 2007. The official final result declared the previous incumbent Saakashvili to be the winner with 53.47% of the votes counted. Three independent polls also saw him as the winner of the elections. The human rights office of the had strong criticism of the election evaluationOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe .

organization

Change of electoral law

In the run-up to the elections in November 2007, the voting rights were changed. In future, voters who are not on the electoral roll will also be allowed to cast their votes. This change was justified by the fact that the electoral lists could no longer be fully checked until the relatively short-term election date in January. International organizations criticized the change in electoral law, as it promoted attempts at forgery. According to the new law, it is possible for voters to cast their votes several times. In December, 3,372,179 voters were registered with the authorities.

Candidates

Mikheil Saakashvili
Badri Patarkatsishvili

According to the Central Election Commission, the following candidates were allowed to stand for election on December 11, 2007:

The following were excluded from the election by the Central Election Commission:

Election observation

International election observer mission

An International Election Observer Mission (IEOM) coordinated by US House Representative Alcee Hastings ( Democrats ) stayed in Georgia from December to January and presented a preliminary report on January 6th. The mission included staff from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Rights Office, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament .

OSCE Human Rights Office

A delegation from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE, chaired by the former Head of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia , Dieter Boden, stayed in Georgia from November 2007 to February 2008 in order to prepare and conduct the presidential elections on a long-term basis to observe. At the end of December she published preliminary studies on the course of the election campaign and media coverage. A final report will be presented in February. It controlled the work of 180 electoral commissions in Georgia between January 6 and 18.

ISFED and nGnI

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) and New Generation-New Initiative (NGNI) conducted a parallel vote counting (Engl. Parallel Vote Tabulation ) through to check for any discrepancies in the vote count. Over 1,500 observers were deployed.

In addition, four Georgian television stations organized a polling after leaving the polling station. The Georgian Institute for Public Affairs (GIPA), the State University of Tbilisi (TSU), the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) were commissioned with the implementation.

Election campaign

Campaign Funding

Opposition politicians accused President Saakashvili of having misused millions of dollars in tax money for election campaign purposes. That would violate the law.

A preliminary study by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found that government-issued vouchers for electricity, gas and medicines were distributed to pensioners and other disadvantaged groups during the election campaign. The distribution is said to have been used by the ruling party for campaign purposes. Healthcare vouchers for retirees and leaflets about the state-funded temporary employment program have also been distributed, all of which bear the number 5, Saakashvili's place on the presidential ballot.

Media coverage

According to a preliminary study by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), coverage of most Georgian television channels during the election campaign was unbalanced. Almost all of the main news programs devoted the majority of their coverage to the candidate of the ruling United National Movement party , Mikheil Saakashvili. It was the focus of 41% of election campaign reports on Georgia's public broadcaster and 34% on Imedi TV . The television stations Rustavi 2 and Mse TV also reported primarily on Saakashvili.

The opposition candidates played only a subordinate role in election campaign coverage. Public broadcasting dedicated 17% of the reports to Dawit Gamqrelidze , Levan Gatchechiladze 16% and Shalva Natelashvili 13%. Imedi TV reported 18% on Gatchechiladze and 17% on Badri Patarkatsishvili . Only one TV station, Kawkasia , paid more attention to the opposition candidates than to the ruling party candidate.

Use of force

On December 1, 2007, there were a series of attacks and intimidation against activists of the opposition electoral alliance United National Council , which supported the presidential candidate Levan Gatchetschiladze. An alliance office in Tskaltubo , Imereti was attacked. In the parish of Gardabani , the local campaign leader Gatchetschiladze was kidnapped and beaten by several men. According to the Georgian Workers' Party, the opposition presidential candidate Shalva Natelashvili was attacked by supporters of the United National Movement in his hotel on the last weekend in December while on an election campaign trip .

Landlords who wanted to rent campaign offices to the United National Council were intimidated into not doing so. According to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the landlord of the National Council office in Kareli municipality and his family were threatened with arrest if the lease was maintained.

Discussion about the monarchy

In the course of the Georgian presidential elections in 2008, the discussion about the abolition of the republic in favor of a constitutional monarchy was discussed. The Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II had spoken out in favor of a corresponding restoration under the Bagrationi royal house in October 2007 and thus met with great public approval. For example, the conservative MP Swiad Dsidsiguri , Konstantine Gamsachurdia from the Party of Freedom and the former Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili supported the demand for a monarchy in Georgia . The idea has also found support in large parts of the population: Georgian presidentialism is widely regarded as a failure (especially today after President Saakashvili at the expense of losses in the war with Russia in 2008 ).

Election process

Voting took place in 3,512 polling stations in Georgia and in Georgian embassies and consulates abroad. Elections began on December 28, 2007 in five remote mountainous constituencies. A man was arrested in Telavi who tried to fill a ballot box with forged ballot papers.

Individual EU politicians

Various foreign election observers reported that the election was conducted according to democratic rules. The parliamentary managing director of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group , Manfred Grund , said on election day in Tbilisi: "My impression so far is that the elections are well prepared and are fairly normal in Europe." Estonian and Lithuanian members of parliament who had traveled to Georgia expressed a similar opinion .

International election observer mission

In the opinion of the International Election Observer Mission (IEOM) around the member of the US House of Representatives Alcee Hastings, the elections were "legally valid" and took place "essentially in accordance with democratic elections". They were "a living expression of the free choice of the Georgian people".

OSCE Human Rights Office

According to a preliminary report by the OSCE Human Rights Office's Observer Mission on January 19, 2008, the evaluation of the presidential election in Georgia was "bad or very bad" in 23%. Election fraud had been observed in 8% of the evaluations. Significant procedural errors or omissions were made in 21% of the cases. The data were often inconsistent.

The staff of the Central Election Commission informed the observer mission that in around 940 out of 3,511 constituencies the number of voters did not match the number of valid and invalid votes.

Especially at the district level, the election commissions worked “slowly, not well organized and often chaotically”. There have also been cases in which the protocols of the district election commissions differed from those of the constituency commissions. As examples, the observer mission named the cities of Batumi , Lentechi and Dmanissi , which would have shown a significantly higher number of votes for Mikheil Saakashvili.

A significant number of polling stations had recorded an unusually high turnout in the last three hours of election day. According to the Central Election Commission, over 500 people voted in 79 polling stations during this period. The election commission later corrected the number of these polling stations on its website to 45.

Georgian observer

The Association of Young Lawyers documented by January 5, 15:00 over 95 cases in the cities of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara . Ballot boxes have not been sealed and there are problems with the electoral roll . Devices for marking voters who have already cast their votes have been deliberately put out of operation. In addition, the candidate Saakashvili was advertised on election day in front of and in polling stations. On January 7, the study group said they had documented 230 complaints against irregularities. In the Tbilisi districts of Wake and Saburtalo in particular, as well as in the cities of Kutaisi and Chelwachauri, there were serious violations of democratic standards.

Opposition parties

Opposition candidate Gatchechiladze spoke of election fraud the day after the election. He wanted to file over 1,000 complaints about violations in the election. Tina Chidascheli from the United National Council said there were "more than a hundred electoral protocols that showed that around 110,000 votes - almost six percent of all votes - were forged in favor of Saakashvili". This was the only way that Saakashvili got more than 50% and avoided a runoff election with his electoral opponent. As a prime example, she cited the count in Batumi , where the counting record recorded 115 votes for Saakashvili and 205 for Gatchechiladze. Later it was falsified to 550 votes for Saakashvili and 119 for Gatchetschiladze.

According to the Georgian Workers' Party , voters were threatened and pressured to vote for Saakashvili.

Election result

After the presidential elections: the inauguration of the Georgian head of state. Here is the ceremony from 2004.

Official end result

According to the official final result, Mikheil Saakashvili is the winner with 53.47% (1,060,042) of the votes. His opponent Levan Gatchechiladze received 25.69% (509,234) of the vote. Badri Patarkazishvili won 7.1% (140,826) of the votes, Schalwa Natelashvili 6.49% (128,589), Dawit Gamkrelidze 4.02% (79,747), Giorgi Maisashvili 0.77% (15,249) and Irina Sarishvili 0.16% ( 3,242). Because Saakashvili received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the two first-placed candidates was not necessary.

The minutes of the final result were passed by the Central Election Commission with seven to six votes. The six representatives of the opposition had voted against, the six representatives of the ruling party in favor. The decisive factor was the vote of the chairman, Levan Tarchnishvili, a confidante of the former president. The Central Election Commission had rejected all complaints about irregularities in the presidential elections in the early morning of January 13th.

The counting of the votes dragged on for over a week. The Central Election Commission was unable to present any election results on election evening. The chairman of the election commission, Levan Tarchnishvili, blamed the bad weather in Georgia and two parallel referendums. Another reason is the composition of the counting commissions in the constituencies: “As you know, in addition to non-party members of the election commissions, there are also those who are nominated by political parties. That leads to rough debates, which in turn slow down the decision-making process. "

Parallel voter surveys

A post-election survey by four Georgian television stations, which had the voters questioned by various social research institutes after leaving the polling station (see section on election observation ), sees the previous President Mikheil Saakashvili as the winner. Then he won 53.8% of the vote, his competitor Levan Gatchechiladze 28.3%. All other candidates were well below seven percent of the vote.

The parallel vote counting (Engl. Parallel Vote Tabulation ) of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) also sees Saakashvili as the winner of presidential elections. According to their polls, 50.8% voted for Saakashvili and 27.2% for Gatchechiladze. Badri Patarkatsishvili got 7.3% of the vote, Shalva Natelashvili 7%. The remaining candidates were well below five percent of the votes cast.

The parallel election evaluation of the New Generation-New Initiative (nGnI) confirmed the trend of the other parallel evaluations . Saakashvili then gained 52.09%. His rival Gatchechiladze got 25.74%. Patarkatsishvili received 7.23% of the vote. All other candidates were well below seven percent of the vote.

Counterparty claims

Both Mikheil Saakashvili and Levan Gatchetschiladze declared themselves election winners before the official final results were announced. While Saakashvili spoke of "a victory in the first round" subject to the official final result, Gatchechiladze made its own extrapolation of a "total nationwide leadership" and claimed the victory without restrictions. After the official final result was announced, the opposition modified its stance. "We will have a president whom the people do not recognize," declared Dawit Zurabishvili , leader of the opposition faction Democratic Front .

The candidate Gamqrelidze accepted the leadership of the opponents Saakashvili and Gatchetschiladze and demanded a runoff between the two highest placed. The candidate Natelashvili, on the other hand, refused to admit defeat and called for the elections to be repeated.

Parallel referendums

decree

In addition to the election of a new head of state, a presidential decree of November 23, 2007 provides for two referendums for the ballot. The voters should decide whether the Georgian parliamentary elections from October 2008 are brought forward to spring 2008 and whether Georgia should continue on the path of NATO integration.

Results

The results of the two referendums were announced by the Central Election Commission on January 11th. 69.8% of voters wanted to move the Georgian parliamentary elections from October 2008 to spring 2008. 72.5% of voters were in favor of Georgia continuing on the path of NATO integration.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Civil Georgia: Saakashvili Re-Elected as CEC Approves Final Vote Tally  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 13, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  2. ↑ a b Civil Georgia: Final results of Exit Polls commissioned by four Georgian television stations  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 5, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  3. ↑ Civil Georgia: PVT conducted by election watchdog International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  4. ↑ Civil Georgia: PVT conducted by election watchdog New Generation - New Initiative (nGnI)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Civil Georgia: OSCE Report Critical about Post-Election Process  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 19, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  6. ↑ Georgia News: Change in Suffrage in Georgia , November 22, 2007
  7. ^ Georgia News: Electoral Commission: 3,372,179 registered voters in Georgia , December 8, 2007
  8. ↑ Georgia News: Seven candidates for presidential election in Georgia December 11, 2007
  9. ↑ Georgia News: Number of presidential candidates in Georgia decreases to 19 , 29 November 2007
  10. ↑ Georgia News: 13 candidates left for presidential election in Georgia , December 7, 2007
  11. ↑ a b c Civil Georgia: International Observers Release Interim Findings  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  12. ↑ a b c d Civil Georgia: OSCE Issues Second Interim Report on Election Campaign  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 28, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  13. ↑ a b c Civil Georgia: OSCE Monitoring: Media Lacks Balance in Campaign Coverage  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 28, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  14. ↑ Civil Georgia: Exit Poll Managers Pledge Impartiality  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 30, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  15. ↑ Prime News: “New Generation-New Initiative” To Hold Parallel Counting Of Votes  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 28, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / eng.primenewsonline.com  
  16. ↑ Civil Georgia: ibid.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 30, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  17. ↑ Georgia News: Dispute between government and opposition over election campaign funding , December 7, 2007
  18. ^ Civil Georgia: Opposition Coalition Claims its Activists Pressured, Beaten , December 1, 2007
  19. ↑ Prime News: “Laborists” Accuse Supporters Of Saakashvili Of Attack  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 29, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / eng.primenewsonline.com  
  20. ↑ http://www.caucaz.com/home_de/breve_contenu.php?id=248&PHPSESSID=eebcdf3cf00c7ba86cbe19b784176a51
  21. ↑ http://www.georgien-nachrichten.de/index.php?rubrik=innenpolitik&cmd=n_einzeln&id=11815
  22. ↑ http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2008/08/20/demoralized_georgia_may_renew_itself_by_restoring_its_monarchy
  23. ↑ Civil Georgia: 'Ballot Stuffing Suspect' Arrested - Minister  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 5, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  24. ↑ Georgien Nachrichten: German election observer calls elections in Georgia fairly democratic January 5, 2008
  25. ↑ ZDF today: Saakashvili is celebrating once before  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. January 5, 2008@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.heute.de  
  26. ↑ Civil Georgia: Estonian, Lithuanian Observers Hail Polls as Democratic  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  27. ↑ a b ZDF today: Election in Georgia: It's getting tight for Saakashvili  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2007@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.heute.de  
  28. ↑ Georgia News: GYLA: 95 Cases of Election Irregularities in Georgia , January 5, 2008
  29. ^ Civil Georgia: Watchdog Wants Annulment of Results from 30 Precincts , Jan. 7, 2008
  30. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: Election in Georgia massively falsified ( memento of January 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), January 10, 2007
  31. ↑ Georgia News: Workers' Party in Georgia reports voter intimidation, Jan. 5, 2008
  32. ↑ Civil Georgia: ibid.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 13, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  33. ↑ Civil Georgia: CEC Turns Down Complaints  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 13, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  34. ↑ Civil Georgia: Early Official Results Delayed  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  35. ↑ Civil Georgia: PVT conducted by election watchdog International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  36. ↑ Civil Georgia: PVT conducted by election watchdog New Generation - New Initiative (nGnI)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  37. ↑ Civil Georgia: Saakashvili: January 5 a huge Victory of Georgia  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  38. ↑ Prime News: Gachechiladze Claims Winning Early Presidential Elections In Georgia  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / eng.primenewsonline.com  
  39. ↑ FAZ.net: Saakashvili officially declared the election winner , January 13, 2008
  40. ^ Civil Georgia: Gamkrelidze Concedes Polls, Calls for Run-Off , Jan. 6, 2008
  41. ↑ Civil Georgia: Natelashvili Calls for Repeat Polls  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge  
  42. ↑ Georgian State Chancellery: Two questions to be included in plebiscite for Georgia's citizens, among them whether Georgia should pursue integration into NATO ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 27, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.president.gov.ge
  43. ↑ Civil Georgia: CEC Announces Plebiscite Results  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 11, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.civil.ge