Ad hoc Committee to observe the extraordinary presidential elections in Georgia (4 January 2004)
Doc. 10046
26 January 2004
Report
Bureau of the Assembly
Rapporteur: Mr M�ty�s E�rsi, Hungary, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group
I. Introduction
1. The Bureau of the Assembly decided on 25 November 2003 to set up an ad hoc committee of 20 members to observe the extraordinary presidential elections in Georgia and appointed Mr Matyas Eorsi (LDR, Hungary) as Head of delegation and Rapporteur of this committee. On 10 December 2003, the Bureau accepted the proposal to associate members of the secretariat and experts to this ad hoc committee, it being understood that such an enlarged Parliamentary Assembly Observation Mission will be under the Assembly’s leadership.
2. Based on proposals by the political groups in the Assembly, the ad hoc committee was composed as follows :
SOCIALIST GROUP (SOC)
Mr Tom COX, UNITED KINGDOM
Mr Evgueni KIRILOV, BULGARIA
M. Jean-Pierre KUCHEIDA, FRANCE
Mr Marek WIKINSKI, POLAND
GROUP OF THE EUROPEAN PEOPLE’S
PARTY (EPP/CD)
Mr Zekeriya AKCAM, TURKEY
Mr Andres HERKEL, ESTONIA
Mr Christian MENARD, FRANCE
LIBERAL, DEMOCRATIC AND REFORMERS’
GROUP (LDR)
Mrs HelenaBARGHOLTZ, SWEDEN
Mr Matyas EORSI, HUNGARY
Mr Azim MOLLAZADE, AZERBAIJAN
Mrs Lili NABHOLTZ-HAIDEGGER, SWITZERLAND
EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC GROUP (EDG)
BARONESS Gloria HOOPER, UNITED KINGDOM
Mr Andr� KVAKKESTAD, NORWAY
EXPERT
Mr Henning GJELLEROD
SECRETARIAT
Mr Wojciech SAWICKI, Director
Mme Agn�s NOLLINGER, Deputy Head of the Interparliamentary Co-operation Unit
Mr Bas KLEIN, Administrator
Mr Angus MAC DONALD, Principal Administrative Assistant
Mrs Alexandra ALLEON, Assistant
MEDIA
Ms Val�rie GAURIAT, Television journalist, Euronews
3. This committee acted as a part of the International Election Observation Mission (EOM) which also included the election observation mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, a delegation of the European Parliament and the election observation mission of the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe’s Office for Democratic institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR).
4. The ad hoc committee met in Tbilisi from 2 to 7 January 2004 and held meetings with candidates competing in these elections, representatives of political parties, the Chairperson of the Central electoral Commission, the Head of the observation mission of OSCE/ODIHR and representatives of NGO’s and media.
5. The day after the election, the ad hoc committee met the president-elected, Mr M. Saakashvili, the interim President, Mrs Nino Burjanadze and the State Minister, Mr Zurab Zhvania. It also met representatives of the opposition. The programme of the ad hoc committee appears in Appendix 1.
6. The day of the election, the ad hoc Committee was divided into 19 teams in order to observe the voting and the counting in Tbilisi and around. The joint press release issued by the International Election Observation Mission appears in Appendix 2.
7. The ad hoc committee enjoyed the support of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission in Georgia and thanks Mr Plamen Nikolov, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Georgia for his assistance.
II. Political and legal context
8. The extraordinary presidential elections held on 4 January 2004 were the fourth since Georgia got its independence in 1991. This election was the first test for the new authorities to demonstrate their political will and ability to conduct democratic elections.
9. This election took place against the backdrop of the 2 November 2003 parliamentary elections that were marked by a widespread and systematic election fraud, serious irregularities in the polling stations, including ballot stuffing, multiple voting and destruction of ballot boxes, that led to massive demonstrations in Tbilisi and finally to the resignation of the former President, Eduard Shevarnadze.
10. The extraordinary presidential election was conducted under new provisions which included a new voters’ list, a day-registration, the universal use of voter marking (inking) to combat double voting, recalling that this practice was only used in urban areas during the November election, and the simplification of complaint procedures.
11. Taking into account the problems and the criticisms resulting from the quality of the voters’ lists, the new President of the CEC decided, on 9 December, to make a new registration. Even if a certain number of shortcomings were observed that originated from the difficulties to prove current residence, this method allowed, in connexion with the short timeframe, to limit multiple registration.
12. On 30 December, the CEC decided to allow same-day registration of voters, including those abroad. If these provisions seemed reasonable in the circumstances of this election, this kind of registration should in no way become a permanent feature.
13. The CEC decided also to permit each District Election Commission to be assisted by a special reserve of people in order to assist PEC during the Election Day. The decision was taken in order to avoid any confusion due in particular with the same day registration.
14. Nevertheless, the members of the ad hoc committee underlined that this kind of decision remains dubious and noted that in many cases the helping people were interfering, in particular, during the counting.
15. The Constitution requires a 50 % voter turnout and that the winning candidate receives 50% of the ballot casts.
III. Candidate Registration and the Campaign
16. Two political parties and five initiative groups succeeded in submitting candidate support lists with a minimum of 50000 signatures to the CEC before the 12 December deadline. One candidate, Mr Igor Giorgadze, was denied registration on the grounds of not meeting the residency requirement.
17. The six remaining candidates were confirmed on 17 December.
18. The ad hoc committee regretted that, in general, this campaign was not competitive given that one front-runner dominated the political scene.
19. The campaign was extremely low-key and peaceful, because of insufficient campaign funding.
IV. The media
20. The media continued to enjoy a high degree of freedom of expression, except in Adjara.
21. In general, the print and electronic media mainly focused on the candidacy of Mr Saakashvili and government activities. The other candidates were widely absent from media coverage.
22. As in November 2003, the media showed a great degree of objectivity and were very critical.
23. The State media complied with the legal provisions on allocation of free airtime and all the candidates could use this opportunity to give their message through this free airtime.
V. Election day, Vote count and tabulation
24. Contrary to the elections held in November 2003, the voting proceeded smoothly and in a calm atmosphere. The participation was higher than expected, about 83% according to the CEC.
25. The ad hoc committee noted a better organisation in the polling station although few violations were reported, such as some ballot box stuffing, inking not systematically applied or violations during the counting.
26. The members underlined the lack of training, even though there had been some progress since November 2003, of the members of the electoral bureaux, namely during the voting process.
VI. Meetings the day after the election
27. The members of the ad hoc committee held several meetings after the Election Day with the president-elected, the interim President and the State Minister as well as with the President of CEC and representatives of the opposition.
28. During these exchanges of views, Mr Saakhasvili, Mr Burjanadze and Mr Zhvania first thanked the international community, and especially the Council of Europe, for their support and underlined their wish that the forthcoming parliamentary elections would be conducted in a fair and democratic way.
29. They also stressed the importance of a credible opposition for these next elections. In this context, they reiterated the importance of the input and advice of the Council of Europe in the organisation of these elections. This assistance can be done mostly by providing expertise, especially by giving advice on the changing of the electoral law and also on the working procedures for the new elected parliament.
30. They also agreed that it would be necessary to reduce the threshold to 4 or 5 % in order to enable opposition to be represented in the Parliament after the forthcoming elections, to simplify the voting procedures and to increase the secrecy of the vote.
31. The members of the ad hoc committee stressed the necessity to change the composition of the CEC in order to have a more balanced political composition. This would imply, possibly, the abolishment of the Baker Formula.
VII. Conclusions and recommendations
32. The extraordinary Presidential Elections of 4 January 2004 showed a considerable improvement since November 2003 and the political will of the new authorities to organise elections in conformity with internationally accepted democratic standards. But the true test will be the forthcoming parliamentary elections on 28 March 2004.
33. The ad hoc committee welcomes the efforts made by the Central election commission to ensure that this election was conducted democratically. The inaccuracy of the central voters list has been the main point of serious criticism during the last elections and the decision by the CEC to establish a new voters’ list therefore helped to increase the voters’ confidence in the election process. The same goes for same-day-registration, which is, in fact, a return to the supplementary list that had been seriously criticised by the Council of Europe and the international community in the past.
34. The ad hoc committee asked the authorities that these measures should not become permanent for the forthcoming elections, even if they were explainable at this time, due to the short time available in preparing for these extraordinary presidential elections. If repeated, they could become a point of serious concern for the ad hoc committee. They recommend to take immediately the necessary measures to begin the computerisation of the handwritten lists of voters which were used at the 4 January elections and to define an additional period for voter registration for those voters who have not completed registration and to guarantee to the citizen who has completed voter registration that his name will be on the voters’ list.
35. The ad hoc committee regrets also that the composition of the CEC and of the Precinct Electoral Commission was still politically imbalanced. This is the result of the Baker Formula that favours the incumbent government in the composition of the election commissions. The members of the ad hoc committee therefore call upon the authorities to agree on a system which should ensure equal representation of all political forces at all levels of the election commissions.
36. The members stressed also the necessity to ensure the independence and impartiality of the election administration as well as that a proper distinction between state and party resources and structures is maintained.
37. Concerning the voting process, the members agreed on the fact that it must be simplified before the next elections. This implies also some substantial changes in the secrecy of vote, that it to say to abolish stamping of the ballot papers and envelopes after the voter has made his choice and to install sufficiently long curtains in the voting booths in order to provide more privacy. The reason is that the election law provides that PEC members should be able to see what is happening in the ballot booth, that is to say whether there are more than one voter inside. That is why the curtain cannot reach the ground.
38. As in previous elections, the ad hoc committee called on the authorities to investigate each incident and irregularity observed during these elections and to prosecute any perpetrators in order not to return to the sense of impunity that prevailed during the previous elections.
39. The ad hoc committee asked the authorities in Adjara to fully participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
40. The ad hoc committee stressed also the necessity to change the threshold of 7% and to examine the possibility to reduce it to 4 or 5 %.
41. In conclusion, the ad hoc committee observed clear improvements in the conduct of voting and in the voting process in general. They hope that the political goodwill will persist and recall that the forthcoming parliamentary elections will be the test for the new authorities as far as the commitments that Georgia took when acceeding to the Council of Europe are concerned.
42. The ad hoc committee expresses once more the readiness of the Council of Europe to assist the Georgian authorities in the development of democracy in Georgia and especially in the field of reform of election law and working procedures of the Parliament.
APPENDIX I
10 December 2003
AD HOC COMMMITTEE FOR THE OBSERVATION OF THE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN GEORGIA
(2 to 7 January 2004)
PROGRAMME
Friday, 2 January 2004
Arrival of the members of the Ad Hoc Committee. All members will be met at the airport by the protocol service of the Georgian Parliament and provided with transport to:
Hotel Marriott
Rustaveli Avenue 13
Tbilisi 38008
Tel: + 995 32 779 200
Fax: + 995 32 779 210
Saturday, 3 January 2004
09h00 Welcome address by Mr Bruce George, Head of OSCE PA Delegation, Mr Matyas Eorsi, Head of PACE delegation and Mr Dementrio Volcic, Head of European Parliament
09h15 Welcome Address and Introduction to the 2004 Presidential Elections by Mr Craig Jenness, Head of OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission
09h30 Presentation of the OSCE Mission to Georgia by Mr Roy Reeve, Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia
09h45 Key Issues and the Media ahead of the Elections
Mrs Sabine Freizer, OSCE/ODIHR Political Analyst
Mrs Maria Fariello, OSCE/ODIHR Legal Analyst
Mr Harald Jepsen, OSCE/ODIHR Election Analyst
Mrs Lucia Scotton, OSCE/ODIHR Media Analyst
10h45 Coffee Break
11h00 Elections Round Table
National
Organisations : Mrs Tina Khidasheli, Director, Georgian Young Lawyers
Association (GYLA)
Representative of the International Society fo Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
Mr Ghia Nodia, Chairman, The Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and
Development (CIPDD)
11h30 International Organisations
Mrs Silvana Piuzina, Project Manager, IFES
Mr Lincoln Mitchell, Director, NDI
Mr Mark Lenzi, Country Director for Georgia, International Republican
Institute (IRI)
12h00 Meeting with Mr Zurab Chiaberashvili, Chairman of CEC
12h45 Lunch
13h45 Mr Hamlet Chipashvili, Representative of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara
Meetings with the Presidential Candidates
14h10 Mr Kartlos Gharibashvili, Political Union “Lawyers”
14h30 Mr Levan Robakidze, Head of Campaign for Mr Teimuraz Shashiashvili, Initiative Group
15h10 Presentation of the election forms
15h30 Coffee break
16h00 Head of Delegations meet with H.E. Nino Burjanadze, Interim President of Georgia
16h00 Mr Roin Liparteliani, Bloc “Davit Agmashenebei”
16h20 Mr Zaza Sikharulidze, Initiative Group
16h40 Finances and Logistics
16h50 Security guideines
17h05 Deployment plan
17h15 Meeting with drivers and Interpreters
18h00 Meeting of the Ad hoc Committee
19h00 Mr Mikheil Saakashvili, United National Movement/Burjanadze-Democrats
Sunday, 4 January 2004
Observation of the vote and vote count.
Monday, 5 January 2004
09h30 Ad Hoc Committee Meeting
10h30 Joint Debriefing meeting
16h00 Joint Press Conference
18h00 Meeting with the elected President, Mr Mikheil Saakashvili
19h00 Meeting with Mr Zurab Chiaberashvili, Chairman of CEC
Tuesday, 6 January 2004
10h00 Meeting with New Rights Party
11h00 Meeting with Labor Party
12h00 Meeting with Mr Zviad Mukbaniani
12h30 Meeting with Party “Industry will save Georgia”
13h00 Meeting with Socialist Party
13h30 Lunch
15h00 Meeting with Ms Nino Burjanadze, Interim President
16h00 Meeting with Mr Zurab Zhvania, State Minister
17h00 Meeting with NGOs
Wednesday 7 January 2004
Departure of the members of the Ad Hoc Committee. Transport from the hotel to the airport will be provided by the protocol service of the Georgian Parliament.
APPENDIX II
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PRESS RELEASE
Presidential election brings Georgia closer to meeting international standards
TBILISI, 5 January 2004 - The 4 January presidential election in Georgia demonstrated notable progress over previous elections in the country but was only a partial test of Georgia's electoral system and commitment to a democratic process, representatives of the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) said today.
In a press conference during which they presented their preliminary findings and conclusions, Bruce George, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the Special Co-ordinator for the short-term observers, appointed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, said: "Considerable progress has been made over a short period of time. I look forward to returning for the parliamentary elections to witness further steps towards achieving international standards."
"The authorities showed the political will to conduct democratic elections, making a welcome contrast to the deeply flawed 2 November 2003 parliamentary elections," he added.
Matyas E�rsi, who heads the Delegation from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, said: "This election brought back hope. The new leadership now has the opportunity, and more importantly the responsibility, to nourish it. Time is short. The forthcoming parliamentary elections will be the true test for the new authorities of their willingness and ability to conduct genuinely democratic elections."
"Election officials at all levels should be recognized for their diligent efforts under difficult and challenging conditions. This election has brought Georgia closer to meeting international standards for democratic elections and closer to Europe," added Demetrio Volcic, Head of the Delegation of the European Parliament.
"We noted clear improvements, particularly in the conduct of voting, new voters lists, the legal framework and overall election administration," concluded Craig Jenness, Head of the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. "The authorities and the Central Election Commission demonstrated that they were serious about their obligations but there were nevertheless clear concerns. Particularly regarding political imbalance in election administration and failure of some election officials to maintain distance from participants. This was not a truly competitive environment, further progress is needed."
Approximately 450 international observers from 38 countries monitored the election. The International Election Observation Mission's concerns in this election regarded issues such as the continued lack of a clear separation between party and State structures and the political imbalance in the composition of the election administration, in favour of the current authorities. With the exception of the region of Kvemo Kartli, the irregularities reported were on a lesser scale than in the November parliamentary election. The IEOM noted less scrutiny by domestic observers in all aspects of the process.
The lack of commitment by the authorities of Adjara region to guarantee sufficient conditions for the conduct of a meaningful democratic election was also criticized.
For further information, please contact :
Angus MacDonald, Press Officer,
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(e-mail:[email protected]
Urdur Gunnarsdottir, ODIHR Spokesperson(e-mail:[email protected])
Jan Jooren, Counsellor, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (e-mail:
[email protected]
Tim Boden, Co-ordinator, European Parliament Secretariat (mobile :
+32 475 35 19 48)
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