30 October 2018, 08:56
Observers report bribing voters at elections in Georgia
At the polling station in Tbilisi, where the presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili voted, some people were on duty, who gave money to voters, observers have stated. However, the voters, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", insisted that no one tried to bribe them or put pressure on them.
On October 28, voting took place at the presidential election in Georgia. The gap between the independent candidate Salome Zurabishvili, supported by the "Georgian Dream" Party, and Grigol Vashadze, a candidate of the United National Movement (UNM) Party, made less than 1%. The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the second round of election.
The police are investigating seven incidents that occurred during the voting, including a brawl of supporters of presidential candidates.
The bribing of voters was announced by Lela Uskalava, an observer from the NGO named "Apriori".
The presidential campaigns of Zurabishvili and Vashadze are built on the struggle of the parties, headed by two irreconcilable opponents – the former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and the third President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili.
The scandal around the "Iberia" TV Company and its main sponsor, the Omega Group of Companies, was the reason for a sharp criticism of the ruling party "Georgian Dream". According to political analysts, the scandal may affect the outcomes of the presidential election.
The pre-election situation in Georgia as a whole was rather negative, said Laura Thornton, the head of the representative office of the US National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Georgia. According to her story, there were attacks on NGO activists, which had an impact on the election campaign.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 29, 2018 at 09:21 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Beslan Kmuzov, Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondents
