Podcast | Georgian Dream's Departed and sex tapes as weapons in Azerbaijan

August 17, 2022 10:31 PM

In this week’s episode of the Caucasus Digest, OC Media’s Editor-in-Chief, Robin Fabbro, talks to Ismi Aghayev about the latest sex tape scandal in the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the history of sexual intimidation in the country.

Mariam Nikuradze talks about the four ex-members of Georgian Dream who have left the ruling party in order to ‘speak more freely’.

Ivanishvili supporters accuse the US of attempting coup in Georgia

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Screenshots of Azerbaijani state news agency Azertac’s coverage of Georgian politics and elections.

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Azerbaijani state media cover Georgian Dream’s pre-election campaign

Aytan Farhadova

••2 min read

Over the last month, Azerbaijan’s official government news agency Azertac has published multiple articles focusing on ethnic Azerbaijani candidates running for the ruling Georgian Dream party, while failing to provide a platform for Azerbaijani opposition candidates. On 16 October, Azertac interviewed Georgian Dream MP Zaur Darghalli, who said that his party had guaranteed stability in Georgia, and elaborated on how it was able to keep the peace for the last 12 years. ‘These elections are

Illustration by Tamar Shvelidze/OC Media.

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Podcast | Georgia gears up for the 2024 parliamentary elections

OC Media

••2 min read

With Georgia’s parliamentary elections inching closer, both the ruling Georgian Dream party and the many groups representing the opposition are scrambling to prepare for the critical vote on 26 October. This week, OC Media’s Robin Fabbro, Mariam Nikuradze, and Shota Kincha discuss how the pre-election campaign period has been going, claims of electoral violations by Georgian Dream, and the atmosphere in Georgia ahead of the vote. Read more: * Who’s who in Georgia’s pa

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Ranking Georgia’s political parties by gender balance in the 2024 elections

Shota Kincha

••5 min read

Georgia’s parliamentary elections on 26 October, unlike the previous vote, will be held without any gender quotas. As women’s representation in Georgian politics remains an issue, we have examined the electoral lists of all the major parties and groupings and ranked them based on how many women they included — and how highly they were placed. The ruling Georgian Dream party pushed through mandatory gender quotas ahead of the 2020 parliamentary and 2021 local elections in an apparent bid to pro

2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Deep fakes ‘target’ Georgian opposition on TikTok ahead of elections

Shota Kincha

••2 min read

A Georgian elections watchdog has published a report outlining the increased use of AI technology in the pre-election period, including the creation of deep fakes based on opposition politicians. On Tuesday, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) reported that anonymous actors had used AI technologies to forge the voices of Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili and For Georgia chair Giorgi Gakharia in videos shared on social media. According to ISFED, one such a