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ISFED

ISFED

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Shalva Papuashvili. Official image.
EED

Papuashvili slams Western donors for paying fines of Georgian protesters

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Georgia’s Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has criticised international organisations for allegedly paying fines imposed on protesters, accusing them of seeking to ‘incite civil strife’. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Papuashvili criticised international organisations, likely in reference to the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), for paying the fines of ‘lawbreakers’ — people detained at protests in Georgia — ‘which can be understood by extremist groups as a carte blanche for

Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
2020 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Georgian election watchdog in hot water over parallel vote count error

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Georgian election watchdog the International Society for Fair Elections And Democracy (ISFED) has found itself embroiled in scandal after admitting to making a mistake in their parallel vote tabulation. Since 31 October’s parliamentary election, all eight opposition parties that won seats have denounced the vote as rigged, in part, though not only, because of irregularities raised by ISFED and other watchdogs. The day after the elections, ISFED unveiled the results of their Parallel Vote Tab

Survey finds courts among the least trusted institutions in Georgia
Georgia

Survey finds courts among the least trusted institutions in Georgia

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A study by CRRC commissioned by Transparency International found that 53% of respondents believed the Georgian judicial system was ‘under influence of the ruling party’. According to the results of a recent survey conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), only 5% of Georgians said they fully trusted Georgia’s courts, while 20% said they did not trust them at all. The results of the study, commissioned and published by watchdog group Transparency International Georgia, sa

Salome Zurabishvili flanked by her daughter, Kethevane Gorjestani, and son, Teymouraz Gorjestani.
2018 Georgian Presidential Elections

Zurabishvili and family ‘receive death threats’ from opposition supporters

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  Georgian Dream–endorsed presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili and members of her family received SMS and audio death threats from ‘former military officers’, she announced on Monday. Messages including ‘I will put a hole in your head’ and ‘I will drink your blood’ were allegedly sent to from 9–11 November. At a press conference on Monday, the presidential candidate said she knew who the senders were but declined to reveal their identities, other than to describe them as ‘former m

Georgian presidential election to go to second round
2018 Georgian Presidential Elections

Georgian presidential election to go to second round

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Georgia’s presidential election will go to a second round run-off after no candidate won more than 50% of Sunday’s vote, according to preliminary results from the Election Administration. With over 99% of votes counted, Georgian Dream–endorsed candidate Salome Zurabishvili leads with 39% of votes with the UNM’s Grigol Vashadze in second with 38%. A runoff will take place between the two no later than 1 December. According to the Election Administration, turnout for Sunday’s vote was 46

Georgian Dream continues ‘anti-NGO rhetoric’
Bidzina Ivanishvili

Georgian Dream continues ‘anti-NGO rhetoric’

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On 26 October, former Georgian Prime Minister and the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili again berated several leading local non-governmental organisations, in an interview with journalists. Ivanishvili reprimanded Eka Gigauri, the head of anti-corruption group Transparency International — Georgia for ‘crossing a line’. ‘Several NGOs […] baselessly accuse the government, and if the government responds to them, they portray it as political pressure. That’s what th

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