Fact-Finding Commission into October 31, 2020 Parliamentary Elections Approving Action Plan
The Commission voted and endorsed the action plan.
Prior to the discussion of the action plan, the Chairman of the Commission, Givi Mikanadze, once again called on the parliamentary opposition to participate in the work of the commission - "It is unfortunate that the members of the opposition, who later joined the Parliament, refused to work in this Commission and, moreover, questioned the need for the Commission. In the meanwhile, these people were alleging for 6 months to have the genuine facts regarding the gross irregularities during the elections. It is very unfortunate that they refuse to participate in these processes, but we take this process with great responsibility.
The opposition can still join the Commission and take part in its activities, both in terms of expressing their opinions and arguments, as well as providing certain evidence and information that will be essential to the Commission's work”.
According to G. Mikanadze, the Commission will have its own office for the duration of its term, for which a request has been submitted to the Treasury Board to allocate some funding for the creation and provision of the office.
As the Chair elucidated, the action plan of the Commission also envisages the recount of certain precincts, which is a necessary component for the recount process to be carried out at the most professional level -"With this budget we demanded to hire 12 so-called counters, who will carry out the live counting process in the presence of the Commission members. In order to ensure publicity and openness regarding this process, this procedure will be broadcast live”.
According to the member of the Commission, Aluda Ghudushauri, the Commission will be highly effective, and the process will be maximally transparent to answer all the questions.
At the meeting, the members of the Commission were introduced with an action plan, which, among other issues, provides the request for the information from the CEC, MIA and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
"In the letters to be sent to the CEC, we demand for a list of the polling stations whose imbalances were registered in the summary protocols. We request copies of these protocols as well. We also request data on the sum of the number of ballots causing imbalances across the country. Also, the list of polling stations (indicating districts) where four non-governmental requested the recount of ballot papers. We also request statistics on complaints of irregularities in the October 31, 2020 parliamentary elections, including information on the number of complaints filed, the data of the complainants, the results of the proceedings and the grounds for rejection of the complaints. We ask the CEC to submit a list of commission members throughout Tbilisi, indicating districts and precincts, in which no violations and complaints have been reported, and these commission members should be selected on a professional basis, from which we agree to select 12 people who will sign a labor contract within the staff of the Commission and they will be involved in the counting process of the selected precincts, which will be supervised and monitored by the Commission. We ask the CEC to submit the information as soon as possible”, - the Chair elucidated.
According to him, in a letter sent to the MIA and the Prosecutor General's Office, the Commission requests that the following information be submitted no later than June 1: On the ongoing investigation into the facts of violence, bribery, and abuse of office (use of administrative resources) during the pre-election campaign period of October 31, 2020 parliamentary elections and on the polling day. Also, based on the above events, whether anyone has been charged. In case of a positive answer, the relevant agencies should provide information on how many persons and with what qualifications they have been charged. The required information also encompasses the responses to complaints received as well as information received through any means (including media agencies).
According to the action plan of the Commission, the information meeting will be held with the representatives of the diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia and international organizations, as well as with the local organizations monitoring the elections.
As the Chairman of the Commission remarked, the informational meeting with the diplomatic corps and representatives of international organizations is expected to be held tomorrow - "We will share this information with them and thus reaffirm our openness and transparency, but on the other hand, we can hear some advice from them on what to focus more on during this work process”.
The action plan also envisages defining the methodology and number of polling stations, counting the ballot papers according to the polling stations; compiling and approving the list of persons invited to the sitting of the Commission; receiving explanations from the invited persons.
Opposition MPs presented their positions on the vote-counting methodology. Fridon Injia proposes to the Commission to use the lottery principle to select precincts when counting election results.
Finally, the members of the Commission agreed to discuss the methodology after receiving the information requested from the relevant organizations.
As it was mentioned at the meeting, after the methodology is agreed upon, the recounting process will begin, after which the circle of persons to whom invitations will be sent for explanations will be more precisely defined.
Ultimately, the report prepared and approved by the Commission will be submitted to the Bureau.