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Georgia: Parliamentary Elections November 2003

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Georgia: Parliamentary Elections November 2003 GEORGIA: PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS NOVEMBER 2003 Report by Hans Dieset NORDEM Report 07/2004 Copyright: the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights/NORDEM and author(s). NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights, is a programme of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), and has as its main objective to actively promote international human rights. NORDEM is jointly administered by NCHR and the Norwegian Refugee Council. NORDEM works mainly in relation to multilateral institutions. The operative mandate of the programme is realised primarily through the recruitment and deployment of qualified Norwegian personnel to international assignments, which promote democratisation and respect for human rights. The programme is responsible for the training of personnel before deployment, reporting on completed assignments, and plays a role in research related to areas of active involvement. The vast majority of assignments are channelled through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NORDEM Report is a series of reports documenting NORDEM activities and is published jointly by NORDEM and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Series editor: Siri Skåre Series consultants: Hege Mørk, Gry Kval, Christian Boe Astrup The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher(s). ISSN: 1503–1330 ISBN: 82–90851–75–8 NORDEM Report is available online at: http://www.humanrights.uio.no/forskning/publ/publikasjonsliste.html Preface On 31 March 2003, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human rights (ODIHR) received a formal invitation from Georgian authorities to observe the November 2003 parliamentary elections. Upon this invitation, the OSCE/ODHIR deployed a Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) to Georgia in June 2003. The purpose of the NAM was to assess the conditions for elections, and to advise on the level of ODIHR involvement. The NAM recommended that a standard Election Observation Mission (EOM) be deployed to Georgia. Furthermore, the NAM advised that the OSCE participating states be asked to second 18 long-term observers (LTOs) to observe during the pre-election period and 250 short-term observers (STOs) to observe during election day. For election day 2 November the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) recruited some 450 STOs from 43 different OSCE participating states, including 21 parliamentarians from OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), 21 from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and three form the European Parliament. On election day, the international observers visited some 1,200 polling stations throughout Georgia. One Norwegian LTO, Hans Dieset, was recruited to the EOM by NORDEM. Additionally, NORDEM recruited the following Norwegian STOs for the first round on 2 November. They were Lorentz Stavrum (deployed to Kvemo Kartli region), Anne Grete Nilsen (Imereti region), Jeremy Franklin (Kakheti), and John Mikael Kvistad (Kazbegi). Other Norwegian STOs included Andre Kvakkestad (PACE), and Steinar Gil, Turid Jacobsen, and Heidi Olufsen – all three from the Norwegian Embassy in Baku and all deployed to Kvemo Kartli region. For the repeat elections to take place in seven constituencies on 27 November, the EOM had initially recruted 77 STOs from OSCE participating states, OSCE PA and the European Parliament. However, because of the instability in the country after the first round, the EOM decided to cancel its observation of the second round. The information in this report is both based on the EOM’s reports and on the observations of the Norwegian observers. All opinions expressed in the report are the authors’ responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. NORDEM/ Norwegian Centre for Human Rights University of Oslo July 2004 Contents Preface Contents Map of Country Introduction............................................................................................................................1 Political background ..............................................................................................................1 The Legislative Framework ..................................................................................................5 The Electoral Administration ................................................................................................7 Voter and Civic Education ....................................................................................................9 Voter Registration..................................................................................................................9 Candidate Registration ........................................................................................................10 The Election Campaign .......................................................................................................11 The Media ............................................................................................................................12 Observation on Polling Day ................................................................................................12 STO Election Day reports from the first round 2 November 2003 ...............................13 The Review of Complaints Process ....................................................................................16 Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................................17 Comments on the Election Observation Mission...............................................................19 Appendice ............................................................................................................................20 GEORGIA: PARLIAMENTARY & PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2003-2004 1 Introduction The International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) for the 2 and 23 November Georgian parliamentary elections was a joint undertaking of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the European Parliament (EP). The OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) opened in Tbilisi on 9 September and consisted of 34 election experts and long-term observers deployed in the capital and to six regional centres. On election day, the EOM deployed some 450 short-term observers from 43 OSCE participating States, including 21 parliamentarians from the OSCE PA, 21 from PACE, and three from the European Parliament. Out of a total of 2,893 polling stations the EOM observed the polling and vote count in over 1,200 polling stations. The EOM was also present in more than 30 district election commissions to observe the tabulation of results. At a press conference held on 3 November the EOM stated the following: “The 2 November parliamentary elections in Georgia fell short of a number of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. Inaccuracies in the voter list seriously challenged the fundamental guarantee of universal and equal suffrage, and lessened voters’ confidence in the State administration.” The post election period was extremely tense and characterized by mass protests from the opposition over the election results, allegations of massive frauds and falsifications. The opposition also demanded President Eduard Shevardnadze’s resignation and the cancelling of the 2 November elections The second round of elections should have taken place in seven districts where no candidates were elected in the first round. In addition, re- runs were supposed to take place in three precincts where either the Central election Commission (CEC) or the Court had invalidated the 2 November election results. The EOM was initially supposed to observe the second round on 27 November and had already recruited 77 STOs for that purpose. However, due to the political development in the country, and the fact that the President resigned on the 23 November, the EOM decided on 23 November to cancel its election observation. It was later announced that elections would not take place. On 25 October 2003, Georgia’s Supreme Court cancelled the final national protocol of the November 2 parliamentary elections vote tally issued by the CEC. The court’s ruling affected only the results of the proportional contest, while it remained unclear what would happen with the election results from the single-mandate constituencies. Political background After the dissolution of the USSR, the governmental structure of Georgia has changed radically and has developed into a unique system of government. When the first popularly elected president - Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1991-1992) - was ousted from office in January 1992, the presidency was abolished and the Supreme Soviet (the country’s legislature) disbanded. A military council was formed, which eventually turned over power over to a State Council. GEORGIA: PARLIAMENTARY & PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2003-2004 2 The president is the Head of State, and heads the executive power. He or she is elected by universal suffrage for a period of five years, and may not be elected for more than two consecutive terms. Any citizen, who is entitled to vote, has attained the age of 35 years, and who has lived in Georgia for 15 years is entitled to stand for the office of president. Legislative power is vested in the Georgian Parliament - a unicameral body comprising 235 members (85 are elected from single-mandate districts and 150 by proportional
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