My advice to political parties was to ignore these elections – practically no one is participating, and those who are, are doing so under pressure from the government, said Georgia’s fifth President, Salome Zurabishvili, in an interview with TVP World regarding the October 4 local elections.
According to Zurabishvili, two leaders of a party participating in the elections were in prison and were effectively released for the purpose of participating.
Zurabishvili stated that these “pseudo-elections” are being held following last year’s parliamentary elections, which were conducted amid significant Russian interference and rigging. Consequently, nothing is expected from these elections, but much is expected from protests, as people want a “regime change” and new democratic elections.
“There is nothing at stake. Nothing is expected because these pseudo-elections follow last year’s parliamentary elections, which, as we all know, were held amid significant Russian interference and substantial rigging by both the local government and various Russian technologies. It’s somewhat similar to what we’ve now seen in Moldova, and now our partners have realized that everything we were saying was true.
The situation since the parliamentary elections has only worsened in terms of legislation, with the ruling party exercising total control over the election commission and everything needed for fair elections. So, when these discussions began, my advice to political parties was to simply ignore these elections.
They started discussing whether or not to participate in the elections. Ultimately, practically no one is participating, and those who are, are doing so under pressure from the government. Two leaders of a party participating were in prison and were effectively released for the purpose of participating [in the elections].
So, nothing is expected [from the elections], but much is expected from street protests, as people intend to protest this parody of elections and reiterate that they want a regime change, new democratic elections in which we can fairly compete and reflect the voice of the Georgian people,” Zurabishvili said.
Salome Zurabishvili: My advice to political parties was to ignore these elections – Practically no one is participating, and those who are, are doing so under Government pressure
