On November 12, heads of the organizations ISFED and Transparency International – Georgia met with Irma Inashvili and other representatives of the Alliance of Patriots. They initiated a hunger strike five days ago to demand improvement of the electoral environment in Georgia. 

According to Irma Inashvili, protesters’ demands include: revision and tightening of regulations for setting up of special polling stations; restriction of participation of political officer holders in election campaign; revision of rules for staffing election administration; changing the electoral system, and more. 

Notably, over the past few years NGOs have been actively working to bring the said problems to light, and we support revision and improvement of applicable Georgian election laws. October 31 by-elections have reaffirmed the need to revise existing legislation, especially ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections that we expect to be held in a strained political environment in light of the developments unfolding in the country.

ISFED and Transparency International – Georgia, together with partner organizations will soon initiate a legislative package of amendments to improve regulation of special polling precincts, tighten rules prohibiting abuse of public resources, introduce legal grounds for recounting or invalidating precinct results and revise regulations for staffing election administration. 

We are ready to discuss the said recommendations with all stakeholders, including political forces. 

We would like to reaffirm the need to reform the electoral system and state that regardless of whether individual procedural norms are improved, changing the electoral system will remain the fundamental requirement within the election reform, as the most effective and meaningful way to create fair and competitive electoral environment.