Georgian Parliamentary Elections - A Measure of Democratization?
Channel: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Date: 04/11/2020

Video recording of the online conference on November 2, 2020



With a Visual commentary by Anna Dziapshipa, Visual artist and filmmaker SAKDOK.
With
- Elene Nizharadze, Executive Director International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy ISFED
- Prof. Kornely Kakachia, Director Georgian Institute of Politics GIP
Moderation: Dr. Stefan Meister, Head of Office South Caucasus, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi

In the shadow of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Georgian parliamentary elections did take place on October 31.
In the online discussion we asked what does this election say about the current state of democracy in GEO? How important are the use of administrative resources and the instrumentalization of state institutions for the democratic development of GEO? What does the election result mean for foreign policy, especially relations with the EU? How can the foreign policy of the ruling Georgian Dream party be evaluated, especially with regard to Russia?
Unexpectedly  violations were reported at 8% of polling stations. A tendency of this scale has not been documented in the past years. Although such tendency could have had certain influence on the results of electoral subjects, the maximum expected impact on election results would be less than 4.1%. This tendency endangers trust towards the electoral process, and requires immediate reaction from the electoral administration. The opposition is threatening to boycott the Parliament.