TBILISI ELECTIONS UPDATE 12/21/07

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 003149

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM GG
SUBJECT: TBILISI ELECTIONS UPDATE 12/21/07

Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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OSCE AMBASSADORIAL WORKING GROUP
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1. (C) At the 21 December meeting of the OSCE Ambassadorial
Working Group, the Chairman of the Election (CEC) Levan
Tarkhnishvili addressed the group. He discussed the
following points:

- Cameras at the polling stations: The CEC distributed a
press release explaining the purpose of video surveillance
cameras during election day. The misperception of some
voters is that the cameras will be used to monitor their
ballot selection, rather than monitor the registration and
ballot box. Tarkhnishvili is seeking to heighten public
awareness about the cameras and debunk inaccurate rumors. He
further underlined that the use of filming/photo making
devices in the PECs on Election Day is strictly prohibited,
to include photos taken by cellphones. He stated that the
Ministry of Internal Affairs will make public statements
about this policy. If ballots are photographed or
compromised by use of photographic equipment, they will be
deemed invalid. (Note: Some opposition representatives have
claimed to us that public servants have been instructed to
photograph their ballots in the voting booth, as proof they
voted for the ruling party.)

- CEC Media Monitoring: Tarkhnishvili presented the group
with a copy of the media report from the company CEC had
outsourced to monitor television stations during the
pre-election phase. His information indicated that
Saakashvili is paying for most of his airtime and is on
television more often, as compared to the opposition
candidates who are relying on free ad time. This report will
be published twice weekly and posted on the CEC website. The
ODIHR media expert who followed Tarkhnishvili, Rasto Kuzel,
subsequently made two observations about the CEC media
report. First, while the number of appearances for each of
the candidates is about the same, the total number of minutes
dedicated to Saakashvili is substantially more. Second, the
three main stations are giving Saakashvili extra time. The
example he gave to illustrate this is that on Sunday Mze,
Rustavi, and Public TV all ran during prime time the same
28-minute segment on Saakashvili's visit to Rustavi. Based
on the first seven days of Imedi TV's broadcasting, he noted
that the bulk of the time is dedicated to information
critical of Saakashvili who gets 39.2 percent coverage,
compared to Badri Patarkatsishvili getting 14.7 percent,
Gachechiladze 18.3 percent, Natelashvili 10 percent and
Gamkrelidze 13.8 percent. Kuzel noted that Kavkasiya, a
regional station, heavily criticized Saakashvili.

- Updating the voters list: The opposition has continued to
stress that the voters list is not accurate and the large
number of absent or deceased voters on the list will open the
door to fraud. The CEC has compiled a fact sheet on the most
commonly asked questions about the voter's list.
Tarkhnishvili complained that during the entire time that the
voter's list was open for revision, he received not one
single complaint from the Opposition. Ambassador Igor Gaon,
Council of Europe (CoE),said that CoE's door-to-door effort
to update the voter's list was cut short by the early
elections, and they did not get to at least one third of the
population. At any rate, the list is significantly more
accurate than it was for the local elections in 2006. He
stated Georgia's large internal immigration made the margin
of error of the list at least 4 percent. He stated that
beginning on February 1st, the CoE would conduct an audit on
the voter's list and again seek to further improve the
accuracy.

- Tarkhnishvili shared a fact sheet on the participation of
political officials and Public servants during the
pre-election process. He stated that people do not
understand the difference in these two definitions and thus
the complaint that there is an abuse of administrative
resources. His fact sheet states, that according to the
Election Code, Political Officials (those specifically listed
are the President, Members of Parliament, Prime Minister and
members of government of Georgia, Members of the High
Representative Bodies of Adjara and Abkhazia and Head of
government of the Republic of Adjara and Abkhazia, Deputy
Ministers, members of local government, and head of the
executive body) have a right participate in pre-election
campaigning, while public servants of state and local
governments do not have a right to participate in
pre-election campaigning and/or agitation while executing
service commitments. Those listed as public servants are
members of the election commission, public servants employed

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at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Defense, Prosecutor's
Office, Foreign Intelligence and Special Security Services,
and public officials of state and local governments while
they are carrying out duties related to their office and work
responsibilities. Others listed who may not participate are
foreign citizens and organizations, and charity and religious
organizations. Additionally, pre-election activities cannot
take place on government of sub-agency departments of
Executive and Legislative Bodies.

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Changes in the Election Code
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2. (U) The information below encapsulates the most recent
amendments to the election code and Law on Referendum that
were passed by the Parliament of Georgia in December.

- Boundaries of Precinct Election Commission (PEC) were
changed upon the recommendation of the Venice Commission from
the Council of Europe. Before each PEC included 2,000
voters, but now will include only 1,500. This result in a
higher number of PECs.

- Composition of PEC, DEC, and CEC: The CEC is now composed
of its chairperson and 12 members, all of whom are appointed
for a five year term. The chairperson and five members are
nominated by the President and elected by the Parliament,
while seven members are appointed by political parties. DEC
composition has not changed and remains without party
representation. DECs consist of five members selected in an
open competition and appointed by the CEC for a five-year
term. The PEC composition mirrors that of the CEC with six
members appointed by DECs and seven by parties represented in
the CEC.

- Additional Voters List: Election day registration of
voters erroneously omitted from the general voter list was
introduced by the latest amendments and will be possible upon
presentation of an ID and a document proving a voter's
residency on a precinct's territory. Those voters are
required to put an envelope with their ballot papers in an
additional envelope that is different in size and color from
the ones used by regular voters, and their votes will be
processed under special procedures.

- Voting for Servicemen: If servicemen wish to vote at the
place of registration, he/she must notify the appropriate PEC
and will be included into the general list of voters.

- Media Coverage: Each qualified candidate will now be
provided 90 seconds of free airtime every three hours. The
public broadcaster is obliged to provide free airtime for 60
seconds per hour for each qualified candidate.


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Plebiscite Formulation
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3. (U) According to the Minister of Justice the Interagency
Task Force has agreed on the questions of the plebiscite
which will be the following: "Do you support Georgia's
adhesion to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?"
and "Do you agree to hold the next election to the Georgian
Parliament in Spring 2008?" With this wording, the opposition
which favors spring elections will now be able to campaign
easier than campaigning for "no."

TEFFT