The election campaign for the 2016 parliamentary elections officially started on June 8. The observation results presented in this information bulletin cover the period from June 8 to September 10, though, in some cases, we have also included information about developments before June 8 which are related to electoral processes. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) observes the pre-election period through its head office in Tbilisi and eight regional offices in Adjara, Guria, Imereti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, and Samegrelo. The observation aims to contribute to fair and transparent electoral processes and to ensuring the observance of electoral legislation and internationally established democratic standards by members of the election administration, election contestants, and civil servants in the pre-election period, as well as to inform citizens of Georgia and the international community of violations and shortcomings related to the electoral processes before the 2016 parliamentary elections, to identify problems in the electoral legislation, and to advocate relevant legislative changes after the elections.

GYLA monitors are observing the staffing of precinct election commissions (PECs).During the monitoring, we learned about possible existence of preliminary lists; according to the information we were provided with, when electing professional members of PECs, members of district election commissions (DECs) were presumably guided by the aforementioned lists. In connection with this, representatives of Free Democrats also made a statement. As representatives of the party explained to us, their members got hold of preliminary lists that are presumably kept in the DECs of Kobuleti, Senaki, Ozurgeti, and Dedoplistskaro and contain the names of Georgian Dream supporters and activists and their family members. They were the ones who were supposed to be elected to the PECs. According to information at our disposal, the local authorities, including representatives of heads of municipal administrations/town halls, were presumably actively involved in this process.   That the lists were not available for PEC members from opposition parties, as stated by representatives of Free Democrats, reinforces doubts that the professional members of the PECs were selected by political rather than professional criteria

In the pre-election period, a number of municipalities amended their budgets by which the local authorities distributed a considerable part of the budget funds of 2016, unlike those of non-election year 2015, to programs whose implementation would increase the level of satisfaction of the population and, ultimately, raise the number of their supporters in the elections. The implementation of these programs before elections may not directly contradict concrete norms of the Election Code, though, in its essence, it constitutes the use of budget funds for electoral purposes and creates unequal conditions for political parties.

According to established practice, the pre-election period in Georgia traditionally lasts two months, though the duration of the pre-election period of the 2016 parliamentary elections was determined as four months. This has given rise to both positive and negative aspects. For example, in a number of cases, budget amendments were made and new programs/increases of funding for existing programs were implemented after the official start of the campaign, which the Election Code prohibits from the 60th day before election day.The current year has also seen cases where budget amendments were made several days before the start of the 60-day period, which emphasized the formal character of the prohibition.

Although the Georgian electoral legislation does not prohibit, save for exceptions, initiation and implementation of social programs in the pre-election period, such initiatives still contain risks of the use of administrative resources. Such initiatives are mainly targeted at broad masses of the population and initiating them before elections is aimed at increasing the level of voters’ satisfaction.In the pre-election period, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, talked about a new initiative called “Life goes on”.  According to news reports of August 8, the Prime Minister stated that “The Georgian Dream is working on a new program which is designed specifically for pensioners. The program will be called "Life goes on" and its presentation will probably be held in the nearest days. The Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance are working on the program.”

GYLA has also been observing cases of dismissal from jobs on allegedly political grounds and, if necessary, representing the interests of dismissed persons in court. In the reporting period, we have documented three cases of job dismissals on allegedly political grounds. In particular: On the basis of an order of August 29, 2016, the Head of the Tskaltubo Municipal Administration dismissed Badri Oniani, a member of the political association National Forum, from the position of the Head of the Healthcare and Social Protection Service of the Tskaltubo Municipal Administration. In a conversation with GYLA monitors, Mr. Oniani explained that he had been dismissed due to his political affiliation and activity. GYLA is representing the interests of Badri Oniani in court.

On August 31, 2016, activists of the Kobuleti youth organization of the United National Movement, Tengiz Gogmachadze, Giorgi Andguladze, Zaza Khajishvili, Guram Dzirkvadze and Ilia Bezhanidze, posted stickers inscribed “Clean Kobuleti” and “Pataridze, take care of Kobuleti” on bus stops and rubbish bins.Due to the aforementioned, the UNM activists were summoned and interrogated in the Kobuleti police station. During the interrogation, police officers explained to them that they had violated Subparagraphs I and II of Article 150 of the Code of Administrative Offences which provide for penalties for defacing the appearance of a city/town.

On August 23, at 12 A.M., members of the youth organization of the UNM, first Mikheil Lukhava and then Aleksandre Adamia together with his underage cousin, were detained in the street. As one of the detainees pointed out in a conversation with GYLA representatives, after determining the age of his cousin, police officers got him off the car, and transferred the rest of the detainees first to the patrol police station and then to the criminal police office. They were finally taken to the drug test center of Senaki where the young people refused to take a urine test. The detainees were released 12 hours after the detention. Their rights are being protected by Beka Basilaia, a majoritarian candidate of the UNM.  

The reporting period has also seen several cases of interference with the election campaign and violence. GYLA has filed applications regarding these acts in the relevant agencies and, also, called upon political parties and their supporters to refrain from violent acts and to conduct the election campaign quietly and without violence, so that the events will not endanger free, competitive and fair electoral environment. Attempt to interfere with election campaign in Zugdidi .An incident took place on September 5 when Sanda Roelofs, a majoritarian candidate of the United National Movement, was meeting with constituents in the village of Jikhashkari, Zugdidi Municipality. Several  individuals rushed noisily to the place where the meeting was taking place and tried to disrupt it. 

According to an article published by the InterPressNews news agency on June 9 this year, on the initiative of Tevdore Kobakhidze, Chairperson of the Legal Issues Commission of the Tbilisi City Council, “teachers of the schools of the Vake District will be given free diagnostic tests.” To study this fact in detail, we applied to the Tbilisi City Council, requesting information about the planned initiative and its budget. According to the reply provided by the Tbilisi City Council, the free diagnostic testing of school teachers of the Vake District was not carried out with the 2016 budget funds of the Tbilisi Municipality; the testing was organized by N(N)LE Georgian Dream – Healthy Future, which, according to the Tbilisi City Council, was planning to take various measures in various districts of the capital.